Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES
Volume 128, Issue 8, Pages -Publisher
US DEPT HEALTH HUMAN SCIENCES PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1289/EHP6517
Keywords
-
Funding
- Danish Health Foundation (Helsefonden) [17-B-0255]
- European Union EP7 support for Optimising the Impact and Cost - Effectiveness of Child Health Intervention Programmes of Vaccines and Micronutrients in Low - Income Countries (OPTIMUNISE) [Health-H-2011-261375]
- Danish National Research Foundation [DNRE108]
- Novo Nordisk Foundation [NNF140C0012169]
- National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences [P42ES027706]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BACKGROUND: Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of widely used persistent chemicals with suspected immunotoxic effects. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to examine the association between infant PFAS exposure and antibody responses to measles vaccination as well as morbidity in a low-income country. METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, children from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, were followed from inclusion (4-7 months of age) through 2 years of age. Half the children received two measles vaccinations (at inclusion and at 9 months of age), and the other half received only one (at 9 months of age). In a subset of 237 children, six PFAS were quantified in serum at inclusion, and measles antibody concentrations were assessed at inclusion and at approximately 9 months and 2 years of age. At inclusion and at the 9-month visit, mothers were interviewed about infant morbidity. RESULTS: All but one child had detectable serum concentrations of all six PFAS, although levels were lower than seen elsewhere. A doubling in perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) were associated with 21% (95% CI: 2, 37%) and 25% (95% CI: 1, 43%), respectively, lower measles antibody concentrations at the 9-month visit among the children who had received a measles vaccine at inclusion. Elevated serum PFAS concentrations were also associated with reduced prevaccination measles antibody concentrations and increased morbidity. DISCUSSION: The present study documents that PFAS exposure has reached West Africa and that infants show PFAS-associated increases in morbidity and decreases in measles-specific antibody concentrations before and after vaccination. These findings support the evidence on PFAS immunotoxicity at comparatively low serum concentrations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6517
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available