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Hospitalisation for bronchiolitis in infants is more common after elective caesarean delivery

The authors previously reported an increased risk of hospitalisation for acute lower respiratory infection up to age 2 years in children delivered by...

T regulatory cells in childhood asthma

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways, most commonly driven by immuno-inflammatory responses to ubiquitous airborne antigens.

Risk factors for bronchial hyperresponsiveness in teenagers differ with sex and atopic status

Sex-related differences in bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) have been reported in adolescents, but the mechanisms remain obscure.

Pneumococcal conjugate vaccination at birth in a high-risk setting: No evidence for neonatal T-cell tolerance

Concerns about the risk of inducing immune deviation-associated "neonatal tolerance" as described in mice have restricted the widespread adoption...

Single cell transcriptomics reveals cell type specific features of developmentally regulated responses to lipopolysaccharide between birth and 5 years

Human perinatal life is characterized by a period of extraordinary change during which newborns encounter abundant environmental stimuli and exposure to potential pathogens. To meet such challenges, the neonatal immune system is equipped with unique functional characteristics that adapt to changing conditions as development progresses across the early years of life, but the molecular characteristics of such adaptations remain poorly understood.

Vitamin D deficiency linked to childhood asthma

Researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia have found children with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop asthma.

Professor Wayne Thomas

Honorary Emeritus Fellow; Scientific Reviewer - Animal Ethics

Lipopolysaccharide-induced interferon response networks at birth are predictive of severe viral lower respiratory infections in the first year of life

Appropriate innate immune function is essential to limit pathogenesis and severity of severe lower respiratory infections (sLRI) during infancy, a leading cause of hospitalization and risk factor for subsequent asthma in this age group.

LPS binding protein and activation signatures are upregulated during asthma exacerbations in children

Asthma exacerbations in children are associated with respiratory viral infection and atopy, resulting in systemic immune activation and infiltration of immune cells into the airways. The gene networks driving the immune activation and subsequent migration of immune cells into the airways remains incompletely understood. Cellular and molecular profiling of PBMC was employed on paired samples obtained from atopic asthmatic children during acute virus-associated exacerbations and later during convalescence.

Maternal diet modulates the infant microbiome and intestinal Flt3L necessary for dendritic cell development and immunity to respiratory infection

Poor maternal diet during pregnancy is a risk factor for severe lower respiratory infections in the offspring, but the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that in mice a maternal low-fiber diet led to enhanced LRI severity in infants because of delayed plasmacytoid dendritic cell recruitment and perturbation of regulatory T cell expansion in the lungs.