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Review
. 2017 Aug;64(4):815-836.
doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2017.03.003.

The Burden of Enteropathy and "Subclinical" Infections

Elizabeth T Rogawski  1 , Richard L Guerrant  2
Affiliations
Review

The Burden of Enteropathy and "Subclinical" Infections

Elizabeth T Rogawski et al. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2017 Aug.

Abstract

Environmental enteropathy is a chronic condition of the small intestine associated with increased intestinal permeability, mucosal inflammation, malabsorption, and systemic inflammation. It is commonly accompanied by enteric infections and is misleadingly considered a subclinical disease. Potential effects of enteric infections and enteropathy on vaccine responses, child growth, cognitive development, and even later life obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome are increasingly being recognized. Herein, we review the evolving challenges to defining environmental enteropathy and enteric infections, current evidence for the magnitude and determinants of its burden, new assessment tools, and relevant interventions.

Keywords: Enteric infections; Environmental enteric dysfunction; Environmental enteropathy; Growth faltering.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: We declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Modified directed acyclic graphs to diagram the complex interplay between factors associated with environmental enteropathy and its effects: 2A—a diagram of the different types of variables that could affect exposure-outcome relationships; 2B—an example showing relationships between relevant variables in the context of environmental enteropathy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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