Maternal Exposure to Medications and the Risk of Congenital and Early-Onset Hearing Loss in Children: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis.

Background: Congenital hearing loss (CHL) affects approximately 1-2 in 1000 children and significantly impacts development. Exposure to medications during pregnancy may impact offspring hearing; however, the ototoxic effects of different drugs have not been systematically investigated.

Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted following PRISMA guidelines and analysed 21 experimental and observational studies examining 60 drugs across various categories.

Associations between multiple perinatal exposures and risk of childhood hospitalisation with infection: a registry-based study in two countries.

Several perinatal exposures impact severe infection risk in offspring. However, most studies consider exposures in isolation rather than the impact of multiple co-occurring perinatal exposures. Here, we investigated the risk of hospitalised childhood infections associated with combinations of multiple perinatal exposures.

Dental caries detection in children using intraoral scans and deep learning.

Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate the use of deep learning for automating caries detection using intraoral scan data from children and to evaluate diagnostic agreement between the models' predictions and dental practitioner assessments on 3D models.

Methods: Intraoral scans were collected from two cohorts at Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Two researchers annotated scan meshes using the International Caries Classification and Management System.

Predictors in Youth of Adult Cardiovascular Events.

Background And Objectives: Childhood risk factors are associated with cardiovascular events in adulthood. We compared the utility of a risk model based solely on nonlaboratory risk factors in adolescence versus a model that additionally included lipids to predict cardiovascular events in adulthood.

Methods: The study comprised 11 550 participants from 7 longitudinal cohort studies in the United States, Australia, and Finland with risk factor measurements in adolescence and followed into adulthood.

Humoral and cellular immune responses in vaccinated and unvaccinated children following SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection.

Objectives: The immune response in children elicited by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection alone or in combination with COVID-19 vaccination (hybrid immunity) is poorly understood. We examined the humoral and cellular immune response following SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in unvaccinated children and children who were previously vaccinated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.

Methods: Participants were recruited as part of a household cohort study conducted during the Omicron predominant wave (Jan to July 2022) in Victoria, Australia.

polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to Kawasaki disease but do not predict intravenous immunoglobulin resistance and coronary artery aneurysms.

Introduction: Kawasaki disease (KD) is a pediatric vasculitis that can result in coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) formation, which is a dangerous complication. Treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) significantly decreases the risk of CAA, possibly through competitive binding to Fc-gamma receptors (FcRs), which reduces the binding of pathological immune complexes. However, ~20% of children have recrudescence of fever and have an increased risk of CAA.

Impact of early childhood infection on child development and school performance: a population-based study.

Background: Childhood infection might be associated with adverse child development and neurocognitive outcomes, but the results have been inconsistent.

Methods: Two population-based record-linkage cohorts of all singleton children born at term in New South Wales, Australia, from 2001 to 2014, were set up and followed up to 2019 for developmental outcome (N=276 454) and school performance (N=644 291). The primary outcome was developmentally high risk (DHR) at age 4-6 years and numeracy and reading below the national minimum standard at age 7-9 years.

Diagnostic agreement between visual examination and an automated scanner system with fluorescence for detecting and classifying occlusal carious lesions in primary teeth.

Objectives: To investigate the in vivo diagnostic agreement between visual examination (VE) using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) and an automated scanner system for detecting and classifying carious lesions in primary teeth.

Methods: 5-year-old children (n = 216) underwent VE and intraoral scanning (TRIOS 4, 3Shape TRIOS A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark). Dental caries experience was recorded for each tooth surface using ICDAS.

Increased innate immune responses in adolescents with obesity and its relation to subclinical cardiovascular measures: An exploratory study.

Cardiometabolic risk accrues across the life course and childhood and adolescence are key periods for effective prevention. Obesity is associated with inflammation in adults, but pediatric data are scarce. In a cross-sectional and longitudinal study, we investigated immune cell composition and activation in 31 adolescents with obesity (41.

Emotional symptoms and inflammatory biomarkers in childhood: Associations in two Australian birth cohorts.

Background: An increasing body of evidence supports associations between inflammation and mental health difficulties, but the onset and directionality of these relationships are unclear.

Methods: Data sources: Barwon Infant Study (BIS; n = 500 4-year-olds) and Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC; n = 1099 10-13-year-olds).

Measures: Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire emotional symptoms at 4, 10-11 and 12-13 years, and circulating levels of two inflammatory biomarkers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and glycoprotein acetyls (GlycA), at 4 and 11-12 years.

Childhood infection burden, recent antibiotic exposure and vascular phenotypes in preschool children.

Background: Severe childhood infection has a dose-dependent association with adult cardiovascular events and with adverse cardiometabolic phenotypes. The relationship between cardiovascular outcomes and less severe childhood infections is unclear.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between common, non-hospitalised infections, antibiotic exposure, and preclinical vascular phenotypes in young children.

Change in adiposity is associated with change in glycoprotein acetyls but not hsCRP in adolescents with severe obesity.

Background: Obesity-associated chronic inflammation mediates the development of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. There are sparse data on associations between severe obesity and inflammatory biomarkers in adolescence; most are cross-sectional and limited to acute phase reactants. Here, we investigate associations between adiposity measures and inflammatory biomarkers in children and adolescents with severe obesity both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Antibiotic Exposure and Dental Health: A Systematic Review.

Context: The use of antibiotics in young children is widespread and may lead to adverse effects on dental health, including staining, developmental defects, and dental caries.

Objective: To systematically review the effects of early childhood antibiotic exposure on dental health.

Data Sources: Medline (Ovid/PubMed), Embase (Ovid) and Cochrane databases.

Evidence for protein leverage in a general population sample of children and adolescents.

Background/objectives: The strong regulation of protein intake can lead to overconsumption of total energy on diets with a low proportion of energy from protein, a process referred to as protein leverage. The protein leverage hypothesis posits that protein leverage explains variation in energy intake and potentially obesity in ecological settings. Here, we tested for protein leverage and the protein leverage hypothesis in children and adolescents.

Comparison of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants in Australian children.

There is limited understanding of antibody responses in children across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. As part of an ongoing household cohort study, we assessed the antibody response among unvaccinated children infected with Wuhan, Delta, or Omicron variants, as well as vaccinated children with breakthrough Omicron infection, using a SARS-CoV-2 S1-specific IgG assay and surrogate virus neutralization test (% inhibition). Most children infected with Delta (100%, 35/35) or Omicron (81.

Use of antibiotics and risk of type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study and the national FINRISK study.

Purpose: To investigate whether exposure to systemic antibiotics influences the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity.

Methods: The study sample comprised 2209 (110 with incident diabetes) participants from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS) aged 24-39 years in 2001. The exposure was national linked register data on purchased antibiotic courses between 1993 and 2001.

Neonatal Subcutaneous BCG Vaccination Decreases Atherosclerotic Plaque Number and Plaque Macrophage Content in Mice.

Bacille-Calmette Guérin (BCG) modulates atherosclerosis development in experimental animals, but it remains unclear whether neonatal BCG vaccination is pro- or anti-atherogenic. Many animal models differ fundamentally from BCG administration to human infants in terms of age, vaccine preparation, dosing schedule, and route of administration. We aimed to elucidate the effect of neonatal subcutaneous BCG vaccination—analogous to human BCG vaccination—on atherosclerosis development in ApoE−/− mice.

Exposure to parental smoking and cardiac structure and function in adulthood: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background And Aims: The relationship between childhood tobacco smoke exposure and cardiac structure and function in midlife is unclear. We investigated the association between parental smoking with cardiac structure and function in adulthood.

Methods: 1250 participants (56.

Can adult polygenic scores improve prediction of body mass index in childhood?

Background/objectives: Modelling genetic pre-disposition may identify children at risk of obesity. However, most polygenic scores (PGSs) have been derived in adults, and lack validation during childhood. This study compared the utility of existing large-scale adult-derived PGSs to predict common anthropometric traits (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat) in children and adults, and examined whether childhood BMI prediction could be improved by combining PGSs and non-genetic factors (maternal and earlier child BMI).

Comparison of Seroconversion in Children and Adults With Mild COVID-19.

Importance: The immune response in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection is not well understood.

Objective: To compare seroconversion in nonhospitalized children and adults with mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and identify factors that are associated with seroconversion.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This household cohort study of SARS-CoV-2 infection collected weekly nasopharyngeal and throat swabs and blood samples during the acute (median, 7 days for children and 12 days for adults [IQR, 4-13] days) and convalescent (median, 41 [IQR, 31-49] days) periods after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnosis for analysis.