title: Cohort Profile: The Ecuador Life (ECUAVIDA) study in Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador.
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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigaciones FEPIS, Quinindé, Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador, Institute of Infection and Immunity Research, Institute of Population Health Research, St George's University of London, London, UK, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Infecciosas, Escuela de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador, pcooper@sgul.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigaciones FEPIS, Quinindé, Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Martha E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Chico
authors.affiliation: Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas Ae
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Platts-Mills
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK and.
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Institute of Population Health Research, St George's University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Strachan
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauricio L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barreto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004484:Ecuador; D004485:Eczema / Q000453:epidemiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D012882:Skin Tests; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult