Science / Medicine : Malnutrition Hurts Vaccines

Malnutrition in Third World countries may rob oral vaccines of their potential power in treating diseases such as cholera, polio and typhoid fever that are common in those countries, according Texas A&M; University researchers.

Dr. David N. McMurray, an immunologist with A&M;’s College of Medicine who studied the impact of malnutrition on the immune system for two years, said his findings could help researchers modify vaccine formulas or procedures to increase their effectiveness. Otherwise, he said, a protein deficit among many Third World people could negate the effect of several oral vaccines that attack intestinal infections. The digestive tract is the most common route for diseases in many poorer nations, the researcher said.

In the scientific journal Nutrition Research, McMurray wrote that malnutrition lowers the amount of the antibody immunoglobulin A in the intestinal lining. That antibody is the body’s first line of defense against infections that attack through the digestive tract. The Texas A&M; scientists said malnutrition reduces the body’s ability to move immunoglobulin from the cells where it is produced to the lining of the intestines to combat infection.