Ana Lucia Moncayo

Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador | PUCE · Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas/Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina (CISeAL)

Background: Control of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections relies on the periodic and long-term administration of anthelmintic drugs to high-risk groups, particularly school-age children living in endemic areas. There is limited data on the effectiveness of long-term periodic anthelmintic treatment on the prevalence of STHs, particularly fr...

Epidemiological studies have shown inverse associations between geohelminth (intestinal helminth) infection and atopy, leading to the suggestion that geohelminths might protect against allergy. Periodic deworming of school children with anthelmintics is a widely implemented intervention and has raised concerns that such programmes could increase al...

Most childhood asthma in poor populations in Latin America is not associated with aeroallergen sensitization, an observation that could be explained by the attenuation of atopy by chronic helminth infections or effects of age. To explore the effects of geohelminth infections and age on atopy, wheeze, and the association between atopy and wheeze. A...

Background Asthma has emerged as an important public health problem of urban populations in Latin America. Epidemiological data suggest that a minority of asthma cases in Latin America may be associated with allergic sensitisation and that other mechanisms causing asthma have been overlooked. The aim of the present study was to investigate risk fac...

Geohelminth infections are associated with modulation of immunity to parasite antigens and aeroallergens. To investigate the possibility that this modulation is affected by anthelmintic treatment, we compared cytokine responses in children who were treated with repeated doses of albendazole over 1 year versus those in children who had were not trea...

Background Decrease in malaria rates (e.g. incidence and cases) in Latin America maintains this region on track to achieve the goal of elimination. During the last 5 years, three countries have been certified as malaria free. However, the region fails to achieve the goal of 40% reduction on malaria rates and an increase of cases has been reported i...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of selective and community-wide house insecticide spraying in controlling triatomines in the subtropical areas of Loja Province, Ecuador. We designed a quasi-experimental pre-post-test without a control group to compare entomological levels before and after spraying. The baseline study w...

Chagas disease is endemic in ~70% of Ecuador. Rhodnius ecuadoriensis and Triatoma carrioni (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) are the primary vectors of Chagas disease in Southern Ecuador. This study tested the effectiveness of selective deltamethrin application of Domiciliary Units (DUs) infested with triatomines, coupled with community education activities...

Background The indigenous child population in Ecuador has a high prevalence of stunting. There is limited evidence of the association between breastfeeding, feeding practices, and stunting in indigenous children. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices and explore their association with stunti...

Although vaccines have been developed to prevent COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy is a significant barrier for vaccination programs. Most research on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has blamed misinformation and misstated concerns about effectiveness, safety, and side effects of these vaccines. The preponderance of these studies has been performed in the Glo...

Transmission risk of Chagas disease has been associated with human-vector contacts and triatomines colonizing dwellings, but alternative scenarios, independent of domestic colonization, are poorly documented. In the present work, we estimated the frequency of human blood meals in triatomines from domicile, peridomicile, and sylvatic environments in...

Introduction: Social capital is considered an important determinant of health and overall wellbeing; however, to the best of the authors' knowledge, literature relating social capital to malnutrition in developing countries is still relatively small. This article examines the relationships between social capital and chronic malnutrition and anemia...

Background Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses in pregnant women and their children. In Ecuador, the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnant women is low. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of pregnant women toward in...

Introducción:El capital social (CS) incluye varios componentes de la organización social, que podrían mejorar la situación de salud. Existe poca información sobre su asociación con la Desnutrición Crónica (DC).Metodología:El presente estudio transversal analítico fue realizado en los cantones de Riobamba, Alausí, Guamote, Guano y Colta en el period...

Preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (causative agent for COVID-19) requires implementing contact and respiratory precautions. Modifying human behavior is challenging and requires understanding knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) regarding health threats. This study explored KAPs among people in Ecuador. A cross-sectional, internet-base...

Background: Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses in pregnant women and their children. In Ecuador, the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnant women is low. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women toward influenz...

Background: Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses in pregnant women and their children. In Ecuador, the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnant women is low. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women toward influenz...

Background: Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses in pregnant women and their children. In Ecuador, the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnant women is low. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of pregnant women toward in...

Background: Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection and severe outcomes caused by influenza viruses in pregnant women and their children. In Ecuador, the coverage of seasonal influenza vaccination in pregnant women is low. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of pregnant women toward i...

Objectives: Chronic malnutrition and anemia are prevalent in developing countries. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic malnutrition and anemia and their associated factors in children under five using a multi-causal model in a rural community in the coast of Ecuador. Methods: The study included 314 children under 5 years o...

Background: The mortality rate in children under 5 years old (U5MR) has decreased considerably in Ecuador in the last decade; however, thousands of children continue to die from causes related to poverty. A social program known as Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH) was created to guarantee a minimum level of consumption for families and to reduce chr...

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). It is transmitted to humans primarily through contaminated feces of blood-sucking vectors of the subfamily Triatominae, known in Ecuador as 'chinchorros'. Some Triatominae species can adapt to domiciliary and peridomiciliary environments where T. cruzi can be transmit...

Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). It is transmitted to humans primarily through contaminated feces of blood-sucking vectors of the subfamily Triatominae, known in Ecuador as ‘chinchorros’. Some Triatominae species can adapt to domiciliary and peridomiciliary environments where T. cruzi can be transmit...

Objective The estimation of prevalence and intensity of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections at a country-level is an essential prerequisite for the implementation of a rational control programme. The aim of this present study was to estimate the prevalence and distribution of STH infections and malnutrition in school-age children in rural ar...

Background Although the central coast of the Ecuador is considered endemic for Chagas disease, few studies have focused on determining the risk of transmission in this region. In this study we describe the triatomine household infestation in Manabí province (Central Coast region), determine the rate of Trypanosoma cruzi infection and study the risk...

Entomological indices and altitude range of triatomine infestation in rural communities of Manabí province, 2009–2011 (37 infested communities). (DOCX)

Publically available database. (ZIP)

Background: Chagas disease is endemic to the southern Andean region of Ecuador, an area with one of the highest poverty rates in the country. However, few studies have looked into the epidemiology, vectors and transmission risks in this region. In this study we describe the triatomine household infestation in Loja province, determine the rate of T...

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 frequ...

Introduction Epidemiological data suggest that a minority of asthma cases in Latin America may be associated with allergic sensitisation which could be explained by the effect of environmental factors. The aim was to explore the relationship between levels of IgE specific for allergens (asIgE), skin prick test responses (SPT) and recent wheeze and...

Introduction The parallel rise in prevalence of asthma and overweight/obesity in some Latin American countries has led to suggestions of a link between the two epidemics. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of being overweight on wheeze, exercise-induced bronchospasm and atopy. Methods A case-control study was conducted among 809 Afro...

The low prevalence of allergic disease in the rural tropics has been attributed to the protective effects of chronic helminth infections. There is concern that treatment-based control programmes for these parasites may lead to an increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases. We measured the impact of 15-17 years of anthelmintic treatment with iv...

Many epidemiologic studies report the odds ratio as a measure of association for cross-sectional studies with common outcomes. In such cases, the prevalence ratios may not be inferred from the estimated odds ratios. This paper overviews the most commonly used procedures to obtain adjusted prevalence ratios and extends the discussion to the analysis...

Translation of the Abstract into Portuguese by Mauricio Barreto (0.02 MB DOC)

Translation of the Abstract into Spanish by Ana Lucia Moncayo (0.02 MB DOC)

In areas where intestinal helminth infections are endemic, infections by these parasites may protect against skin test-measured reactivity to allergens, and it has been suggested that interleukin (IL)-10 may mediate this effect. This study investigated whether IL-10 and populations of IL-10+ T cells may modulate atopy in children living in an area...

The environmental factors that determine the elevated levels of polyclonal IgE observed in populations living in the Tropics are poorly understood but may include geohelminth infections. We investigated the association between geohelminth infections and total IgE levels in school children in rural tropical Ecuador, and assessed the effect on IgE of...

Many epidemiologic studies report the odds ratio as a measure of association for cross-sectional studies with common outcomes. In such cases, the prevalence ratios may not be inferred from the estimated odds ratios. This paper overviews the most commonly used procedures to obtain adjusted prevalence ratios and extends the discussion to the analysis...

Geohelminth infections are highly prevalent infections with a worldwide distribution. Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between geohelminth infection and allergy leading to the suggestion that geohelminths protect against allergy. A causal association is supported by the findings of intervention studies in humans and experi...