Abstract
The ECUAVIDA birth cohort is studying the impact of exposures to soil-transmitted helminth (STH) parasites and early-life microbial exposures on the development of atopy, allergic diseases and immune responses in childhood. A total of 2404 newborns were recruited between 2006 and 2009 in a public hospital serving the rural district of Quininde, Esmeraldas Province, in a tropical region of coastal Ecuador. Detailed measurements were done around the time of the birth, at 7 and 13 months and at 2 and 3 years, and data collection is ongoing at 5 and 8 years. Data being collected include questionnaires for: sociodemographic, lifestyle, psychosocial (at 4–6 years only) and dietary (at 6–7 years only) factors; childhood morbidity and clinical outcomes; stool samples for parasites; blood samples for DNA, measurements of vaccine responses and other measures of immune function/inflammation; and anthropometrics. Allergen skin prick test reactivity is done from 2 years and measures of airway function and inflammation at 8 years.
Highlights
Any episode of eczema by 3 years of age was observed in 17.7% of 2069 cohort children with complete data; 25.9% had wheeze and 17.1% had skin test reactivity to any aeroallergen
Immunological analyses have shown that maternal soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infections sensitize the fetal immune response to STH antigens, and that the innate immune response at 2 years does not differ markedly from that observed in affluent countries
Chronic infections with helminth parasites are associated with the induction of immune tolerance, an effect that may contribute to the regulation of host inflammation and a reduction in the risk of inflammatory diseases such as those associated with allergy.[1,2]
Summary
Cohort Profile: The Ecuador Life (ECUAVIDA) study in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador. Philip J Cooper,1,2,3,4* Martha E Chico,[1] Thomas AE Platts-Mills,[5] Laura C Rodrigues,[6] David P Strachan[3] and Mauricio L Barreto[7].
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