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The first few days of life are characterized by rapid external and internal changes that require substantial immune system adaptations. Despite growing evidence of the impact of this period on lifelong immune health, this period remains largely uncharted.
The way the immune system operates differs between males and females. This is due to both differential expression of immune-related genes from the sex chromosomes as well as the immune modulatory properties of sex hormones. Together, these effects contribute to a skewed prevalence of disease and disease course between males and females, including allergic-, infectious-, autoimmune-, and cancerous disease.
Neutrophils are the most abundant immune cell in circulation. However, due to a number of technical challenges for researchers, including the neutrophil's short lifespan and difficulties with preservation, they are often discarded during blood processing and thus ignored in cohort studies. As such, the contribution of neutrophils to disease and their involvement in disease mechanisms is less explored compared with other immune cell types.
Leclercia adecarboxylata is a rare cause of septic arthritis in children, and has intrinsic resistance to common antibiotics. We describe two cases of L. adecarboxylata septic arthritis in children that required re-presentation to hospital with prolonged treatment, and highlight the importance of considering L. adecarboxylata as a potential cause of infection among children with penetrating injuries and associated environmental exposure.
Influenza vaccines are important for reducing the burden of influenza, particularly for populations at risk of more severe infections. Obesity is associated with increased influenza severity and therefore individuals with obesity are often specifically recommended for annual influenza vaccination. Obesity is also associated with an altered inflammatory profile, which may influence vaccine responses. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the evidence for any association between obesity and influenza vaccine immunogenicity.
Early life is marked by distinct and rapidly evolving immunity and increased susceptibility to infection. The vulnerability of the newborn reflects development of a complex immune system in the face of rapidly changing demands during the transition to extra-uterine life.
The antirelapse efficacy of primaquine is related to the total dose administered, whereas the risks of haemolysis and gastrointestinal intolerance are associated with the daily dose administered. National Malaria Control Programmes require local information on efficacy, tolerability and safety to optimize antimalarial treatment policies for Plasmodium vivax malaria control and elimination efforts.
Following widespread exposure to Omicron variants, SARS-CoV-2 has transitioned to endemic circulation. Populations now have diverse infection and vaccination histories, resulting in heterogeneous immune landscapes. Careful consideration of the value of ongoing vaccination is required through the post-Omicron phase of COVID-19 management to minimise disease burden.
Andrew Shattock PhD, MSc, BSc (Hons) Honorary Team Member andrew.shattock@thekids.org.au Dr Andrew Shattock is an Honorary Team Member of The Kids
Disease spreading models such as the ubiquitous SIS compartmental model and its numerous variants are widely used to understand and predict the behavior of a given epidemic or information diffusion process. A common approach to imbue more realism to the spreading process is to constrain simulations to a network structure, where connected nodes update their disease state based on pairwise interactions along the edges of their local neighborhood.