Serum Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Infant Measles Antibody Concentrations Before and After Vaccination: Results from Burkina Faso

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to immunotoxic effects in children, and the consequences of immune suppression could be particularly severe for children in low-income settings. We thus aimed to investigate associations between infant and maternal PFAS exposure and infant vaccine antibody concentrations in Burkina Faso. Infants (n=200) were vaccinated against measles at baseline (age 4-7 months) and/or at 9 months. Associations between maternal and infant PFAS concentrations (quantified in serum collected at baseline) and infant measles antibody concentrations before and after vaccination were assessed in confounder-adjusted linear regression models. Influential observations were excluded in sensitivity analyses. Infant PFAS exposure was positively associated with pre-vaccination antibody concentrations, but associations were largely driven by a few influential observations. Maternal and infant PFAS concentrations were not consistently associated with infant measles antibody concentrations after one or two vaccinations. Thus, these results from a low-exposed population did not confirm findings from previous studies.