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.

Figure 1.

Flowchart illustrating the recruitment and follow-up of the ECUAVIDA cohort to 5 years of age.

Figure 2.

Study site. (A) Map of Ecuador showing location of district of Quinindé, Esmeraldas Province (shaded circle) (courtesy of the General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin, TX). The recruitment area for the cohort was defined by the geographical boundaries of this district. (B) Map showing parishes the district of Quinindé including La Concordia. H, Hospital Padre Alberto Buffoni. (C) geographical location of households of cohort infants.