Risk Factors for Enteric Pathogen Exposure among Children in Black Belt Region of Alabama, USA.

We collected stool from school-age children from 352 households living in the Black Belt region of Alabama, USA, where sanitation infrastructure is lacking. We used quantitative reverse transcription PCR to measure key pathogens in stool that may be associated with water and sanitation, as an indicator of exposure. We detected genes associated with 1 targets in 26% of specimens, most frequently (6.