Bacterial contamination on household latrine surfaces: A case study in rural and peri-urban communities in South Africa

Abstract

Poor sanitation infrastructure, bad hygiene practices and insufficient or lack of safe water in rural and peri-urban communities cause diseases affecting the well-being of vulnerable individuals in communities. Sharing toilets with other families in the community, failure to wash hands after using the toilet and keeping dirty toilet seats further aggravates the situation. This allows for disease-causing organisms to survive on the seats, facilitating disease transmission. Samples from toilet surfaces were collected from 130 rural and 72 peri-urban toilets. Using Escherichia coli (E. coli) virulence genes as an indication of the survival of pathogenic organisms, several strains of pathogenic E. coli were detected which could be a health risk for vulnerable members in these communities. Older adults and children push down on the seat surface before or after using it, and if they neglect to wash their hands, they can infect themselves with diarrhoea-causing microorganisms. There is, therefore, an urgent need to improve and accelerate the provision of improved sanitation facilities with handwashing facilities in rural and peri-urban areas in South Africa to promote a healthy living environment. Also, improved hygiene behaviour programmes should be upscaled, implemented and monitored in these communities.