Lantagne publications on public health interventions

Over the past year, Associate Professor Daniele Lantagne and her research group published 16 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals.
Daniele Lantagne and Gabrielle String in the lab
Associate Professor Daniele Lantagne, left, and postdoctoral scholar Gabrielle String, EG13 and EG17, in a 2015 file photo taken in the Lantagne Lab.

Associate Professor Daniele Lantagne and the Lantagne Group study the effects of efforts to improve sanitation and water hygiene in emergencies and in low-income environments. Population-level policies and efforts put in place by public health interventions like the ones studied by the Lantagne Group are essential to promoting public health, especially as countries and public health agencies across the globe struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lantagne Group and colleagues published 16 papers in peer-reviewed journals over the past year, covering research from locations including India, Uganda, Myanmar, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Nicaragua, and on public health crises like cholera, typhoid fever, and SARS-CoV-19.

In PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Lantagne and four co-authors – Tufts alumni Karin Gallandat, Annie Huang, Justine Rayner, and postdoctoral scholar Gabrielle String – evaluated the effectiveness of three household spraying programs during cholera outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti. The authors issued a series of best practice recommendations, including that spraying agents should arrive quickly and hygiene promotion activities should be instituted at the same time.

In research published in Environmental Science & Technology, Lantagne and PhD students Mustafa Sikder, Patrick Mirindi, and String studied water trucking, which is commonly utilized as a water supply intervention during humanitarian efforts but is under-researched. The Tufts researchers conducted evaluations of water trucking programs in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They found that the programs were appreciated by users and they issued recommendations that could help achieve the consistent delivery, improved quality, and increased quantity that users wanted.

The Lantagne Group also turned its expertise toward the COVID-19 pandemic. Lantagne, postdoctoral scholar and alumna String, and a team of undergraduates – juniors Noah Bedrosian, Elizabeth Mitchell, Elsa Rohm, and Miguel Rothe, and sophomore Christine Kelly – conducted a review of hygiene intervention effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Among other conclusions published in Environmental Science & Technology, the researchers concluded that there is a need for more research on hygiene interventions other than surfaces, especially handwashing. The team also reviewed mask disinfection and re-use practices for SARS-CoV-2 – ultimately recommending a focus on the use of hydrogen peroxide, heat, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation for the disinfection and re-use of N95 masks.

Learn more about the Lantagne Group's recent work: