The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) has commenced a study to document the burden of Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) associated diarrhoea in Zambian children under 3 years of age.

Diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of death among children below the age of five years globally with. ETEC being one of the major causative agents of moderate to severe diarrhoea among children globally. There is limited knowledge about the burden of ETEC associated diarrhoea in Zambia hence the need to carry out a study such as this to establish the burden and incidence of ETEC associated diarrhoea.

The primary objective of this study is to determine the incidence of Moderate to Severe Diarrhoea (MSD) with confirmed ETEC aetiology in children under 3 years old in Zambia and the risk factors for ETEC diarrhoea.

This study will be conducted in five health facilities in Lusaka, namely Matero First Level Hospital, Chawama First Level Hospital, Kanyama First Level Hospital, George Clinic and Chainda South Clinic.

Each of the 5 sites will enrol a cohort of 1,350 children each bringing the total sample size for the study to 6,750 participants. The study will be carried out for 15 months (first 3 months will be a census stage and the rest of the 12 months will be the passive surveillance stage captured at health facilities).

During the surveillance stage, participants presenting with diarrhoea (defined as 3 or more episodes of looser than normal stools in 24 hours) will be assessed and treated according to the standard of care. Given the observational nature of the study, participant engagement for diarrhoea episodes will be completed during each clinic visit.

CIDRZ is carrying out this study in collaboration with the Scandinavian Biopharma (SBH) and University of Gothenburg(GU ) with funding from the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP).

In Pictures : ETEC Surveillance Stakeholder Meeting held at Kanyama First Level Hospital