Do you think it could be impactful for someone to be on the ground for some time, turning every rock to try to uncover the mechanisms behind the reduction? I am thinking something a bit like what was done with Ebola where anthropologists on the ground identified burial practices as a mechanism for the spread of the disease. I love your post by the way—fascinating stuff!
I like the idea of doubling down on research, although in this case I’m not sure there’s enough to work with right now to do that Ebola style research you speak of. If there was research we could do right now it would likely be physiological or immunological rather than field research
What might be really useful to focus the resarch is to figure out what is causing the excess deaths in those without clean water. That’s where a new RCT might come in handy, or this could even potentially be picked up observationally—just look at one community with clean water and another without and see what the kids are dying of in both places and hone in on discrepencies. In saying that accurately identifying cause of death in kids is no really difficult without autopsies in poor settings.
Then once you know what is causing the excess deaths, you can more easily hone in on the underlying cause.
I suspect there has been some of research along these lines already—its a fairly obvious lingering question. Perhaps there has not been much progress, and little has been published or perhaps I’m missing it.
Do you think it could be impactful for someone to be on the ground for some time, turning every rock to try to uncover the mechanisms behind the reduction? I am thinking something a bit like what was done with Ebola where anthropologists on the ground identified burial practices as a mechanism for the spread of the disease. I love your post by the way—fascinating stuff!
Thanks Ulrik appreciate the encouragement!
I like the idea of doubling down on research, although in this case I’m not sure there’s enough to work with right now to do that Ebola style research you speak of. If there was research we could do right now it would likely be physiological or immunological rather than field research
What might be really useful to focus the resarch is to figure out what is causing the excess deaths in those without clean water. That’s where a new RCT might come in handy, or this could even potentially be picked up observationally—just look at one community with clean water and another without and see what the kids are dying of in both places and hone in on discrepencies. In saying that accurately identifying cause of death in kids is no really difficult without autopsies in poor settings.
Then once you know what is causing the excess deaths, you can more easily hone in on the underlying cause.
I suspect there has been some of research along these lines already—its a fairly obvious lingering question. Perhaps there has not been much progress, and little has been published or perhaps I’m missing it.