Infant formulae have been shown to influence the development of the gut microbiota. Besides the probiotic- and prebiotic-containing formulae, fermented milk-based infant formulae offer an additional means for modulation of gut immunity and/or gut microbiota. These formulae are produced by the fermentation of cows' milk with specific lactic acid bacteria ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Despite appropriate passive and active immunization, perinatal transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) still occurs to 5%-10% of infants born to women with high levels of viremia who test positive for the HB e antigen (HBeAg). We evaluate the effects of caesarean section delivery on perinatal transmission ...

INTRODUCTION: The overall beneficial effects of breastfeeding for infants have been well documented, but its role in allergy prevention is controversial. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relationship between breast milk immunomodulatory factors and subsequent development of eczema and atopic sensitization in the first year of life. METHODS: Day 7 and 28 ...

Background: Human milk contains substantial amounts of TGF-β, particularly the isoform TGF-β2. We have previously shown in preclinical models that enterally-administered TGF-β2 can protect against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), an inflammatory bowel necrosis of premature infants. In this study, we hypothesized that premature infants remain at higher risk of NEC than ...

The number of live births from IVM oocytes has been increasing over the past two decades. Data concerning the health of IVM infants are reported by the authors of this Views and Reviews.

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the immune response in infants who received the three-shot hepatitis B vaccine in Malaysia. Methods: Consecutive infants born between March 2002 and April 2010 who received three doses of hepatitis B vaccine at a community clinic in Malaysia were enrolled in the study. Screening ...

Infection with rubella virus during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, can result in congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). Serious manifestations of CRS include deafness, cataracts, cardiac defects, mental retardation, and death. In the last major rubella epidemic in the United States, during 1964-1965, an estimated 12.5 million rubella virus infections ...

A late preterm infant was born 4.5 h after intraamniotic injection of 90 mg of Toluidine blue to confirm premature rupture of membranes. Due to the fetal exposition to the dye, the entire body of the patient was blue stained and the baby suffered from methemoglobinemia, Heinz' body positive hemolytic ...

BACKGROUND:: Ureaplasma spp. respiratory tract colonization is a risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants, but differences in host susceptibility have not been elucidated. We hypothesized that variants in genes regulating the innate immune response are associated with altered risk for Ureaplasma spp. Respiratory colonization and BPD in ...

OBJECTIVES: To determine if providing perinatal immunization education positively changes the immunization status of infants, influences the infant immunization knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of mothers and affects the intent to vaccinate children in Japan where immunization education is limited. METHODS: Pregnant women were recruited from three sites in Tokyo, Japan ...

SUMMARY This study examined the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of measles in Wenzhou, China. From 2000 to 2010, a total of 13271 measles cases were reported in Wenzhou, with epidemics occurring every 3-4 years. Forty-five per cent of the cases were aged <1 year and 27·2% were aged >14 years. ...

There has been a lot of public health interest in vitamin D since the documented resurgence of rickets in children, the identification of widespread vitamin D deficiency and the growing understanding of the role vitamin D plays in the immune system. Some people are at greater risk of vitamin D ...

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) that is unresponsive to conventional treatment is uncommon. In this situation, additional therapeutic options are limited and management is challenging. We describe the case of a 10-week-old infant that developed life-threatening ITP that was unresponsive to immunoglobulin and corticosteroids that was successfully managed with the monoclonal ...

Although previous research has examined the relationships between caregiver proximal soothing and infant pain, there is a paucity of work taking infant age into account, despite the steep developmental trajectory that occurs across the infancy period. Moreover, no studies have differentially examined the relationships between caregiver proximal soothing and initial ...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Immunoprophylaxis reduces but does not completely eradicate hepatitis B virus (HBV) transmission. This prospective study aims to assess the rate and risk factors of maternally transmitted HBV infection. METHODS: We enrolled 303 mother-infant pairs with positive maternal hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) under current immunization program. Maternal ...

Prenatal anxiety has been linked with altered immune function in offspring in animal studies, but the relevance for human health is unknown. We examined prenatal maternal anxiety as a predictor of adaptive immunity in infants at 2 and 6 months of age as part of a prospective longitudinal study. The ...

Neonates and infants, due to the immaturity in their adaptive immunity, are thought to depend largely on the innate immune system for protection against bacterial infection. However, the innate immunity-mediated antimicrobial response in neonates and infants is incompletely characterized. Here, we report that infant mice were more susceptible to microbial ...

We analyzed data from 10 young infants who received exchange blood transfusions for management of severe pertussis. Our data are insufficient to address efficacy of the procedure, but our data, as well as previous reports in the literature, indicate that if the procedure is to be successful, it should be ...

BACKGROUNDS: Levels of maternal antibodies decrease more quickly in preterm than term infants, leaving them unprotected against measles. To protect premature infants from measles, an early vaccination trial was investigated. METHODS: Changes in the serum measles neutralization test (NT) antibody titer were examined in 152 infants (average gestational period of ...

OBJECTIVE:Sepsis in older children and adults modifies immune system function. We compared serotype-specific antibody responses to heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in very low birth weight infants (<1500 g,VLBWs) with and without blood stream infection (BSI) during their birth hospitalization.STUDY DESIGN:Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data for the Neonatal Research Network ...

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a serious global health problem. During the course of HBV vaccination, we observed C-reactive protein (CRP) elevation in term infants without sepsis. Therefore, we prospectively studied interleukin-6 (IL-6) and CRP responses to HBV immunization. In 70 healthy term infants without signs and ...

Since implementation of infant immunization with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7), increased rates of pneumococcal pneumonia have been reported among adults. Using a cohort of mother-infant pairs identified from the General Practice Research Database in the UK we found that from 2006 to 2010 the annual incidence rate of pneumococcal ...

Throughout the human lifetime, the intestinal microbiota performs vital functions, such as barrier function, metabolic reactions, trophic effects, and maturation of the host's innate and adaptive immune responses. Development of the intestinal microbiota in infants is characterized by rapid and large changes in microbial abundance, diversity, and composition. These changes ...

Pertussis incidence in Piemonte (Italy) is now at the lowest level ever reached (0.85 per 100,000 in 2010) but the disease is still endemic in infants (54 per 100,000 in 2005-2010). Parental "cocoon" immunization has been proposed in some countries (i.e. United States, France) as a measure to protect newborns ...

Cow's milk allergy (CMA) continues to be a growing health concern for infants living in Western countries. The long-term prognosis for the majority of affected infants is good, with about 80% naturally acquiring tolerance by the age of four years. However, recent studies suggest that the natural history of CMA ...

OBJECTIVES: Describing rates of seroconversion and its associated factors in a series of Brazilian infants following the final dose of the vaccine at 6 months of age. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected after the third dose of the vaccine for the detection of anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies among infants ...

Serological identification of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) status in children <18 months of age is complicated by the variable persistence of maternal antibodies. As T cells are not passively transferred, we attempted to assess whether CMV-specific cellular immunity may be superior to determine the actual CMV-status; we also performed a functional ...

Objective: Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a well-known cause of adverse neonatal outcomes. As it may have an impact on innate immune responses, we aimed to investigate several parameters of the innate immune response in preterm infants of ≤32 weeks gestation who were small for gestational age (SGA). Methods: We ...

BACKGROUND:: Exclusive breastfeeding reduces the risk of respiratory illness in infants younger than 6 months of age in developing countries by approximately half. We evaluated the effect of exclusive breastfeeding on respiratory illness with fever (RIF) in Bangladeshi infants in the context of a randomized maternal influenza immunization trial. METHODS:: ...

In this prospective cohort study, the presence of parasite-specific IgA in breast milk was associated with protection of Bangladeshi infants from cryptosporidiosis and amebiasis. Our findings suggest that passive immunity could be harnessed for the prevention of E. histolytica and Cryptosporidium spp. infection in children living in endemic regions.

Attenuation of the immune response contributes to the high rate of neonatal infections, particularly in premature infants. Whereas our knowledge of innate immune functions in mature neonates is growing, little is known about the ontogeny of neutrophil recruitment. We investigated neutrophils and ECs in the course of gestation with respect ...

A recent resurgence of pertussis has raised public health concerns even in developed countries with high vaccination coverage. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of infant pertussis, and to determine the relative importance of household transmission in Korea. The multicenter study was prospectively conducted from ...

Studies by researchers worldwide have revealed that, even in industrialised nations, people, infants and the aged in particular, are even more exposed to neurotoxic drugs as a consequence of the increased quantity of pesticide residues in food. This phenomenon, as underlined by The Worldwatch Institute (2006), is linked to the ...

The effect of the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic on viral epidemiology of upper and lower respiratory tract infections (URI and LRI) in healthy infants in the first year of life has not been well studied. A total of 180 healthy infants were enrolled from birth and monitored for occurrences of ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Bacterial colonization of the infant intestinal tract begins at birth. We are at the forefront of understanding complex relationships between bacteria and multiple parameters of health of the developing infant. Moreover, the establishment of the microbiome in the critical neonatal period is potentially foundational for lifelong health ...

Breast milk provides important maturational stimuli to an infant's developing immune system. However, data concerning the role of breast-feeding in reducing the risk of allergic disease remain contradictory. Previous studies have centred on comparative analyses of breast milk and formula compositions. We chose a slightly different angle, whereby we focused ...

Biliary atresia (BA) is one of the major hepatobiliary abnormalities in infants and one of the causes of hepatic osteodystrophy. Bone disease may be caused by the malabsorption of calcium and magnesium by vitamin D in hepatobiliary diseases in which bile flow into the intestines is deficient or absent. Bone ...

Allergic colitis (AC) typically develops in the first weeks or months of life and is characterized by the presence of red blood in the stools of healthy breastfed or formula fed infants. In this paper, we describe a case of rectal bleeding in monozygotic preterm twins that was resolved with ...

Background. Pertussis booster vaccine (Tdap) recommendations assume that pertussis-specific antibodies in women immunized preconception, during or after previous pregnancies, persist at sufficient levels to protect newborn infants.Methods. Pertussis-specific IgG was measured by IgG-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay in maternal-umbilical cord serum pairs where mothers received Tdap during the prior 2 years. Geometric mean ...

Mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 subtype C can occur during in utero, intrapartum, or via breast milk exposure. While not well understood, there are putative differences in the mechanisms involved with the distinct routes of infant HIV transmission. Here, we address the question of whether specific viral characteristics are common to ...

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a devastating condition characterized by diffuse intestinal inflammation and necrosis in preterm infants. It is the most common gastrointestinal emergency in the neonatal intensive care unit and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Primary risk factors include prematurity and low birth weight. Although the pathogenesis ...

Objective:Opioids and clonidine, used in for sedation, analgesia and control of opioid withdrawal in neonates, directly or indirectly activate opioid receptors (OPRs) expressed in immune cells. Therefore, our objective is to study how clinically relevant concentrations of different opioids and clonidine change cytokine levels in cultured whole blood from preterm ...

Facial expressions during infancy are important to examine, as infants do not have the language skills to describe their experiences. This is particularly vital in the context of pain, where infants depend solely on their caregivers for relief. The objective of the current study was to investigate the development of ...

An estimated 25,000 infants are born to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive women annually in the United States. With no intervention, 40%-90% of these infants will acquire hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Approximately 90% of infected infants develop chronic HBV infection, with a 15%-25% risk for premature death from cirrhosis ...

Human milk has been traditionally considered sterile; however, recent studies have shown that it represents a continuous supply of commensal, mutualistic and/or potentially probiotic bacteria to the infant gut. Culture-dependent and -independent techniques have revealed the dominance of staphylococci, streptococci, lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria in this biological fluid, and ...

OBJECTIVES: To compare humoral and cellular immune responses to tetanus booster vaccination in infants born prematurely with those born at full term and identify factors associated with the humoral response. METHODS: A prospective study was carried out on children born prematurely and with a birth weight <1500g and with infants ...

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) injection during pregnancy and/or after birth is an intervention for preventing mother-to-child transmission of the hepatitis B (HB) virus. However, varying cost-effectiveness ratios among various HBIG therapies remain unclear. This study explored these differences in cost-effectiveness ratios. METHODS: Four districts in Wuhan, China, were ...

BACKGROUND: The appropriate management of infants and children with influenza depends on the accurate and timely diagnosis, ideally at the point of care (POC). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the use of simultaneous RSV/influenza rapid testing with QuickVue™ test strips as well as (the use of) novel, fluorescence-based, rapid influenza antigen testing ...

Neonates, particularly those born prematurely, are among the most vulnerable age group for morbidity and mortality due to infections. Immaturity of the innate immune system and a high need for invasive medical procedures in the context of a preterm birth make these infants highly susceptible to common neonatal pathogens. Preterm ...

The objective of this study was to determine the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi in blood samples of mothers with chronic Chagas disease and their newborn by conventional PCR targeted to minicircle kinetoplastidic DNA (kDNA), and to determine the lineages in mother/newborn pairs of the congenital cases by hybridization assays with ...