Background: Respiratory and gastrointestinal infectious diseases are the leading causes of morbidity in children. Numerous international studies have demonstrated that handwashing with soap is one of the most effective and cost-efficient methods for preventing these diseases in children. A previous study conducted in Ulaanbaatar found that only 50.1% of general education school students practiced proper handwashing, which is considered insufficient even in areas with relatively adequate facilities. In Mongolia, 56.1% of the 865 schools lack handwashing facilities and soap, and 25% do not meet the WASH standards. Although knowledge about handwashing increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, sustained behavioral change remained limited, highlighting a gap between knowledge and practice and indicating the need for targeted educational interventions. Furthermore, there is limited research comparing the effectiveness of such interventions across different school environments and urban–rural settings, which provides the rationale for this study. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a handwashing educational intervention among primary school students and determine differences in knowledge change across four schools in urban and rural areas. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study design was used from December 2024 to June 2025. A total of 1,353 students from grades 3–5 in four general education schools (two in Ulaanbaatar and two in rural areas) were included in the study. Preand post-intervention handwashing knowledge scores were analyzed using paired t-tests and one-way ANOVA (α=0.05) with STATA 14.0. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences. Result: The mean handwashing knowledge score increased significantly from 9.68 (±2.64) before the intervention to 10.30 (±2.74) after the intervention, with a mean difference of +0.63 (p<0.001). The differences in improvement between schools were also statistically significant (ANOVA: F(3,1335)=5.90, p=0.0005). The highest improvement was observed in urban School A (+1.49), while the lowest was observed in School B (+0.16). Rural schools C and D showed moderate and relatively consistent improvements (+0.51 and +0.70, respectively). Conclusion School-based handwashing educational interventions effectively improve knowledge among primary school students. However, environmental factors, such as infrastructure and geographic location, significantly influence the effectiveness of the intervention. Therefore, educational interventions should be implemented alongside infrastructure improvements.

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC), the specialized strains ofE.coli that cause most extraintestinal infections, represent a major but littleappreciated health threat. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that ExPEC is composedof four main phylogenetic groups (A,B1, B2, and D) and that virulent extraintestinalstrains mainly belong to groups B2 and D.In this study, we aimed to assess therelation between adherence virulence and phylogenetic groups of ExPEC.A total of 161 E.coli samples were collected. Out of these 17 (10.6%) werefrom pus, 66 (41 %) from urine, 78 (48.4%) from cervical swab. The phylogeneticgroups and 6 virulence genes (fimH, papC, papGII, papGIII, fa/draBC,andSfa/focDE) encoding adhesins were identified by triplex PCR. Phylogeneticgroups distribution was as follows: B1 10.5%, A 24.7%, B2 25.3%, and D 38.9%. Virulence genes prevalence was fimH 90.1%, papC 23%, papGII 16.8%, papGIII1.9%, Afa/draBC 11.8%, andSfa/focDE 5.6%. The cell surface protein (curli) wasdetected 50,3% by Congo red agar. In conclusion: The most isolated strainsbelonged to the phylogenetic group B2 and D. The phylogenetic groups weresignificantly associated with some genes encoding adhesins (fimH, papC) and cellsurface protein (curli).

Extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC), the specialized strains ofE.coli that cause most extraintestinal infections, represent a major but littleappreciated health threat. Phylogenetic analysis has shown that ExPEC is composedof four main phylogenetic groups (A,B1, B2, and D) and that virulent extraintestinalstrains mainly belong to groups B2 and D.In this study, we aimed to assess therelation between adherence virulence and phylogenetic groups of ExPEC.A total of 161 E.coli samples were collected. Out of these 17 (10.6%) werefrom pus, 66 (41 %) from urine, 78 (48.4%) from cervical swab. The phylogeneticgroups and 6 virulence genes (fimH, papC, papGII, papGIII, fa/draBC,andSfa/focDE) encoding adhesins were identified by triplex PCR. Phylogeneticgroups distribution was as follows: B1 10.5%, A 24.7%, B2 25.3%, and D 38.9%. Virulence genes prevalence was fimH 90.1%, papC 23%, papGII 16.8%, papGIII1.9%, Afa/draBC 11.8%, andSfa/focDE 5.6%. The cell surface protein (curli) wasdetected 50,3% by Congo red agar. In conclusion: The most isolated strainsbelonged to the phylogenetic group B2 and D. The phylogenetic groups weresignificantly associated with some genes encodingadhesins (fimH, papC) and cellsurface protein (curli).