Blood Lead Concentrations and Antibody Levels to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella among U.S. Children

Todd A. Jusko, Kyra Singh, Elizabeth A. Greener, Marina Oktapodas Feiler, Kelly Thevenet-Morrison, B. Paige Lawrence, Robert O. Wright and Sally W. Thurston
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Todd A. Jusko: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Kyra Singh: Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Elizabeth A. Greener: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Marina Oktapodas Feiler: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Kelly Thevenet-Morrison: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
B. Paige Lawrence: Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Robert O. Wright: Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Sally W. Thurston: Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY 14642, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-9

Abstract: Child blood lead concentrations have been associated with measures of immune dysregulation in nationally representative study samples. However, response to vaccination—often considered the gold standard in immunotoxicity testing—has not been examined in relation to typical background lead concentrations common among U.S. children. The present study estimated the association between blood lead concentrations and antigen-specific antibody levels to measles, mumps, and rubella in a nationally representative sample of 7005 U.S. children aged 6–17 years. Data from the 1999–2004 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used. In the adjusted models, children with blood lead concentrations between 1 and 5 µg/dL had an 11% lower anti-measles (95% CI: −16, −5) and a 6% lower anti-mumps antibody level (95% CI: −11, −2) compared to children with blood lead concentrations <1 µg/dL. The odds of a seronegative anti-measles antibody level was approximately two-fold greater for children with blood lead concentrations between 1 and 5 µg/dL compared to children with blood lead concentrations <1 µg/dL (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.4, 3.1). The adverse associations observed in the present study provide further evidence of potential immunosuppression at blood lead concentrations <5 µg/dL, the present Centers for Disease Control and Prevention action level.

Keywords: lead; NHANES; MMR; vaccine; vaccination; immunotoxicology; immune; immunology; B cell; T cell; seronegative; seropositive; herd immunity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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