Global Child | Student Poster | 2019

MULTIPLE MYCOTOXIN EXPOSURE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN AND INFANTS IN RURAL ZIMBABWE

Nadia Koyratty, Bernd Osteresch, Paul Turner, Kuda Mutasa, Hans Humpf, Jean H Humphrey, Andrew J Prendergast, Rebecca J Stoltzfus and Laura E Smith
eposures graph.

Figure 4: Population with multiple mycotoxin exposure

Introduction

  • Mycotoxins are poisonous compounds that are naturally produced by different types of molds, e.g. Aspergillus, Fusarium, Penicillium, etc.
  • About 25% of the world’s food crops are contaminated, often with more than one type of mycotoxin. The issue is especially prevalent in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
  • Adverse health effects vary from potentially fatal acute poisoning to long-term immune deficiency and cancer.
  • Multiple mycotoxins have been detected in breastmilk and in the blood of children 1,5. Such exposures have also shown associations with poor child growth.
  • Some of the most harmful to human health and livestock include Aflatoxins (AF), Fumonisins (FUM), Ochratoxin A (OTA), Deoxynivalenol (DON) and Zearalenone (ZEA).

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Project Update

  • Mycotoxin Exposure, Child Stunting and Birth Outcomes: Future Directions for the SHINE Trial
    1/28/21
    Low height-for-age, or stunting, is a major contributor to childhood mortality globally and is often used as a marker of malnutrition in children. Stunting is most likely to occur in the first 24 months of life, and is characterized by a child having a length-for-age z-score (LAZ), or height-for-age z-score (HAZ), below two standard deviations. Stunted children are more likely to have cognitive delays, face higher rates of mortality, and can have decreased economic productivity in adulthood. Compounding on this, children are at increased risk of stunting if their parents were stunted as children themselves, establishing an intergenerational cycle of decreased economic productivity and increased mortality. Rural regions in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia especially suffer from a high prevalence of stunting in children under the age of 5.