Attainment of World Health Organization physical activity recommendations by Ecuadorian children: Analysis of social and anthropometrics factors in two distinct populations.

Daily adherence to WHO recommended physical activity guidelines has multiple health benefits in children and adolescents. Limited data from low and middle-income countries are available regarding adherence to WHO physical activity recommendations. This study aims to objectively measure physical activity intensities and explore associations with sociodemographic and anthropometric factors related to nonadherence to the WHO minimum physical activity recommendations.

Rurality and relative poverty drive acquisition of a stable and diverse gut microbiome in early childhood in a non-industrialized setting.

There are limited longitudinal data from non-industrialized settings on patterns and determinants of gut bacterial microbiota development in early childhood. We analysed epidemiological data and stool samples collected from 60 children followed from early infancy to 5 years of age in a rural tropical district in coastal Ecuador. Data were collected longitudinally on a wide variety of individual, maternal, and household exposures.

Understanding and controlling asthma in Latin America: A review of recent research informed by the SCAALA programme.

Asthma is an important health concern in Latin America (LA) where it is associated with variable prevalence and disease burden between countries. High prevalence and morbidity have been observed in some regions, particularly marginalized urban populations. Research over the past 10 years from LA has shown that childhood disease is primarily non-atopic.

Prospective study of factors associated with asthma attack recurrence (ATTACK) in children from three Ecuadorian cities during COVID-19: a study protocol.

Introduction: Asthma is a growing health problem in children in marginalised urban settings in low-income and middle-income countries. Asthma attacks are an important cause of emergency care attendance and long-term morbidity. We designed a prospective study, the Asthma Attacks study, to identify factors associated with recurrence of asthma attacks (or exacerbations) among children and adolescents attending emergency care in three Ecuadorian cities.

Patterns of allergic sensitization and factors associated with emergence of sensitization in the rural tropics early in the life course: findings of an Ecuadorian birth cohort.

Introduction: There are limited data on emergence of allergic sensitization (or atopy) during childhood in tropical regions.

Methods: We followed a birth cohort of 2404 newborns to 8 years in tropical Ecuador and collected: risk factor data by maternal questionnaires periodically from birth; atopy was measured by skin prick test reactivity (SPT) to aeroallergens in parents, and aeroallergens and food allergens in children at 2, 3, 5, and 8 years; and stool samples for soil-transmitted helminths (STH) from children periodically to 8 years and from parents and household members at the time of recruitment of cohort children. Data on risk factors were measured either at birth or repeatedly (time-varying) from birth to 8 years.

The epidemiology of soil-transmitted helminth infections in children up to 8 years of age: Findings from an Ecuadorian birth cohort.

Background: There are few prospective longitudinal studies of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections during early childhood. We studied the epidemiology of and risk factors for soil-transmitted helminth infections from birth to 8 years of age in tropical Ecuador.

Methods: 2,404 newborns were followed to 8 years of age with periodic stool sample collections.

Incidence and seasonality of respiratory viruses among medically attended children with acute respiratory infections in an Ecuador birth cohort, 2011-2014.

Background: Ecuador annually has handwashing and respiratory hygiene campaigns and seasonal influenza vaccination to prevent respiratory virus illnesses but has yet to quantify disease burden and determine epidemic timing.

Methods: To identify respiratory virus burden and assess months with epidemic activity, we followed a birth cohort in northwest Ecuador during 2011-2014. Mothers brought children to the study clinic for routine checkups at ages 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 years or if children experienced any acute respiratory illness symptoms (e.

Impact of early life geohelminths on wheeze, asthma and atopy in Ecuadorian children at 8 years.

Background: Early-life exposures to geohelminths may protect against development of wheeze/asthma and atopy.

Objective: To study the effect of maternal geohelminths and infections in children during the first 5 years on atopy, wheeze/asthma and airways reactivity/inflammation at 8 years.

Methods: Birth cohort of 2404 neonates followed to 8 years in rural Ecuador.

A prospective seroepidemiological study of toxocariasis during early childhood in coastal Ecuador: potential for congenital transmission and risk factors for infection.

Background: Although Toxocara spp. infection has a worldwide distribution, to our knowledge, no data from birth cohorts have been reported in published studies on the potential for congenital transmission and determinants of infection in early childhood.

Methods: We followed 290 mother-infant pairs from birth to 5 years of age through periodic collection of data and samples at birth, 7 and 13 months and 2, 3 and 5 years of age.

α-Gal specific-IgE prevalence and levels in Ecuador and Kenya: Relation to diet, parasites, and IgG.

Background: IgE to α-Gal is a cause of mammalian meat allergy and has been linked to tick bites in North America, Australia, and Eurasia. Reports from the developing world indicate that α-Gal sensitization is prevalent but has been little investigated.

Objective: We sought evidence for the cause(s) of α-Gal sensitization and lack of reported meat allergy among children in less developed settings in Ecuador and Kenya.

Soil-transmitted helminth parasites and allergy: Observations from Ecuador.

There is considerable interest as to potential protective effects of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) against allergy and allergic diseases. Here, we discuss findings of studies done of the effects of STH parasites on atopy and allergic diseases in Ecuador. While cross-sectional studies have consistently shown a reduced prevalence of allergen skin prick test (SPT) reactivity among infected schoolchildren, the removal of these infections by repeated deworming did not affect SPT prevalence over the short-term (ie, 12 months) but may have increased SPT prevalence over the long-term (ie, 15-17 years).

Associations between infant fungal and bacterial dysbiosis and childhood atopic wheeze in a nonindustrialized setting.

Background: Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease of childhood. Recently, we identified a critical window early in the life of both mice and Canadian infants during which gut microbial changes (dysbiosis) affect asthma development. Given geographic differences in human gut microbiota worldwide, we studied the effects of gut microbial dysbiosis on atopic wheeze in a population living in a distinct developing world environment.

Effect of Early-Life Geohelminth Infections on the Development of Wheezing at 5 Years of Age.

Rationale: Exposures to geohelminths during gestation or early childhood may reduce risk of wheezing illness/asthma and atopy during childhood in tropical regions.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of maternal and early childhood geohelminths on development of wheeze/asthma and atopy during the first 5 years of life.

Methods: A cohort of 2,404 neonates was followed to 5 years of age in a rural district in coastal Ecuador.

Rural to urban migration is associated with increased prevalence of childhood wheeze in a Latin-American city.

Introduction: The urbanisation process has been associated with increases in asthma prevalence in urban and rural areas of low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, although rural to urban migration and migration between cities are considered important determinants of this process, few studies have evaluated the effects of internal migration on asthma in urban populations of LMICs. The present study evaluated the effects of internal migration on the prevalence of wheeze in an urban area of Latin America.

Growth patterns in early childhood: Better trajectories in Afro-Ecuadorians independent of sex and socioeconomic factors.

The first years of life are the most dynamic period for childhood growth. There are limited data available on growth patterns of infants and children living in rural Latin America. The aim of this study was to describe the growth patterns from birth to 5years in children living in a rural District of tropical coastal Ecuador using data from a birth cohort of 2404 neonates.

Maternal Helminth Infection Is Associated With Higher Infant Immunoglobulin A Titers to Antigen in Orally Administered Vaccines.

Background: Many studies have documented lower vaccine efficacy among children in low-income countries, compared with their counterparts in high-income countries. This disparity is especially apparent with respect to oral vaccines such as rotavirus and oral polio vaccines. One potential contributing factor is the presence of maternal antenatal helminth infections, which can modulate the infant's developing immune system.

Effects of maternal geohelminth infections on allergy in early childhood.

Background: Maternal geohelminth infections during pregnancy may protect against allergy development in childhood.

Objective: We sought to investigate the effect of maternal geohelminths on the development of eczema, wheeze, and atopy during the first 3 years of life.

Methods: A cohort of 2404 neonates was followed to 3 years of age in a rural district in coastal Ecuador.

Effects of environment on human cytokine responses during childhood in the tropics: role of urban versus rural residence.

Background: Environment may have a key role in the development of the immune system in childhood and environmental exposures associated with rural residence may explain the low prevalence of allergic and autoimmune diseases in the rural tropics. We investigated the effects of urban versus rural residence on the adaptive immune response in children living in urban and rural areas in a tropical region of Latin America.

Methods: We recruited school children in either rural communities in the Province of Esmeraldas or in urban neighborhoods in the city of Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

A genetic analysis of Trichuris trichiura and Trichuris suis from Ecuador.

Background: Since the nematodes Trichuris trichiura and T. suis are morphologically indistinguishable, genetic analysis is required to assess epidemiological cross-over between people and pigs. This study aimed to clarify the transmission biology of trichuriasis in Ecuador.

Lifestyle domains as determinants of wheeze prevalence in urban and rural schoolchildren in Ecuador: cross sectional analysis.

Background: The acquisition of a modern lifestyle may explain variations in asthma prevalence between urban and rural areas in developing countries. However, the effects of lifestyle on asthma have been investigated as individual factors with little consideration given to the effects of lifestyle as a set of attributes. The aim of the present study was to identify modern lifestyle domains and assess how these domains might explain wheeze prevalence in urban and rural areas.

Norovirus Infection and Disease in an Ecuadorian Birth Cohort: Association of Certain Norovirus Genotypes With Host FUT2 Secretor Status.

Background: Although norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis, there are few data on the community incidence of infection/disease or the patterns of acquired immunity or innate resistance to norovirus.

Methods: We followed a community-based birth cohort of 194 children in Ecuador with the aim to estimate (1) the incidence of norovirus gastroenteritis from birth to age 3 years, (2) the protective effect of norovirus infection against subsequent infection/disease, and (3) the association of infection and disease with FUT2 secretor status.

Results: Over the 3-year period, we detected a mean of 2.

Cohort Profile: The Ecuador Life (ECUAVIDA) study in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador.

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.

Hygiene, atopy and wheeze-eczema-rhinitis symptoms in schoolchildren from urban and rural Ecuador.

Background: Rural residence is protective against atopy and wheeze-rhinitis-eczema symptoms in developed countries, an effect attributed to farming and poor hygiene exposures. There are few data from developing countries addressing this question. We compared atopy and wheeze-rhinitis-eczema symptoms between urban and rural Ecuador, and explored the effects of farming and poor hygiene exposures.

A Single Dose of Oral BCG Moreau Fails to Boost Systemic IFN-γ Responses to Tuberculin in Children in the Rural Tropics: Evidence for a Barrier to Mucosal Immunization.

Immune responses to oral vaccines are impaired in populations living in conditions of poverty in developing countries, and there is evidence that concurrent geohelminth infections may contribute to this effect. We vaccinated 48 children living in rural communities in Ecuador with a single oral dose of 100 mg of BCG Moreau RDJ and measured the frequencies of tuberculin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells expressing IFN-γ before and after vaccination. Vaccinated children had active ascariasis (n = 20) or had been infected but received short- (n = 13) or long-term (n = 15) repeated treatments with albendazole prior to vaccination to treat ascariasis.