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BCG vaccine does not protect against COVID-19 in healthcare workers

A world-leading international trial examining the immune boosting benefits of the tuberculosis vaccine, BCG, has found it does not protect healthcare workers against COVID-19.

Worried about your child getting coronavirus? Here’s what you need to know

Comparatively few children have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Here’s what we know so far about how children are affected.

DNA methylation patterns within whole blood of adolescents born from assisted reproductive technology are not different from adolescents born from natural conception

Study question: Do the epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiles of adolescents born from ART differ from the epigenome of naturally conceived counterparts? Summary answer: No significant differences in the DNA methylation profiles of adolescents born from ART [IVF or ICSI] were observed when compared to their naturally conceived, similar aged counterparts.

One vaccine for life: Lessons from immune ontogeny

There remains a general misconception that the immune status of the fetus and neonate is immature or insufficient. However, emerging research in immune ontogeny prompts reconsideration of this orthodoxy, reframing this period instead as one of unique opportunity. Vaccine responses (qualitative and quantitative) vary between individuals, and across demographic cohorts. Elements of baseline immune status and function predict vaccine response - some of these factors are well described, others remain a subject of ongoing research, especially with the rapidly expanding field of 'omics' research, enabled by development of highly granular immune profiling techniques and increasing computational capacity.

Adiposity associated DNA methylation signatures in adolescents are related to leptin and perinatal factors

Epigenetics links perinatal influences with later obesity. We identifed differentially methylated CpG (dmCpG) loci measured at 17 years associated with concurrent adiposity measures and examined whether these were associated with hsCRP, adipokines, and early life environmental factors. Genome-wide DNA methylation from 1192 Raine Study participants at 17 years, identified 29 dmCpGs associated with body mass index, 10 with waist circumference and 9 with subcutaneous fat thickness.

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial evaluating the effect of folic acid supplementation beyond the first trimester on maternal plasma unmetabolised folic acid in late gestation

Taking folic acid containing supplements prior to and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects. Neural tube defects occur prior to 28 days postconception, after which, there is no proven benefit of continuing to take folic acid. However, many women continue to take folic acid containing supplements throughout the pregnancy.

Nasal delivery of a commensal Pasteurellaceae species inhibits nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae colonisation and delays onset of otitis media in mice

We have demonstrated that a single dose of a closely related commensal can delay onset of NTHi otitis media in vivo

Confounding effects of gavage in mice: Impaired respiratory structure and function

It is therefore clear that gavage can have significant impacts on experimental animals in terms of their stress response and overall morbidity and mortality

Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy Induces Epigenetic Changes Into Adolescence, Independent of Postnatal Smoke Exposure and Is Associated With Cardiometabolic Risk

This study demonstrates a critical timing of cigarette smoke exposure over the life course for establishing persistent changes in DNA methylation into adolescence

Association between pregnant women's experience of stress and partners’ fly-in-fly-out work

There is some evidence that the pregnant partners of fly-in-fly-out workers perceive their lives to be more stressful