PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (Jan 2012)

Maternal geohelminth infections are associated with an increased susceptibility to geohelminth infection in children: a case-control study.

  • Raaj S Mehta,
  • Alejandro Rodriguez,
  • Martha Chico,
  • Irene Guadalupe,
  • Nely Broncano,
  • Carlos Sandoval,
  • Fernanda Tupiza,
  • Edward Mitre,
  • Philip J Cooper

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001753
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 7
p. e1753

Abstract

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BackgroundChildren of mothers infected with soil-transmitted helminths (STH) may have an increased susceptibility to STH infection.Methods and findingsWe did a case-control study nested in a birth cohort in Ecuador. Data from 1,004 children aged 7 months to 3 years were analyzed. Cases were defined as children with Ascaris lumbricoides and/or Trichuris trichiura, controls without. Exposure was defined as maternal infection with A. lumbricoides and/or T. trichiura, detected during the third trimester of pregnancy. The analysis was restricted to households with a documented infection to control for infection risk. Children of mothers with STH infections had a greater risk of infection compared to children of uninfected mothers (adjusted OR 2.61, 95% CI: 1.88-3.63, pConclusionOur data suggest that maternal STH infections increase susceptibility to infection during early childhood, an effect that was associated with elevated IL-10 in cord plasma.