03 March 2024 , 00:34
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Covid 'pandemic babies' are starting to show 'fascinating' biological changes in their development, a new study has found.
Children born while the world was in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, with most countries locked down, have an altered gut microbiome - meaning the system of good and bad bacteria in their gut to help aid digestion and eliminate harmful bacteria is slightly altered in children now entering their toddler and early childhood years.
A researchers team from the University College Cork in Ireland found the changes meant the so-called 'Covid babies' have a lower than expected rate of allergic conditions, such as allergies to food - compared to those born before the pandemic. The study looked at fecal samples from 351 Irish babies born in the first three months of the pandemic between March and May 2020, comparing them to samples from babies born before the pandemic.
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A researchers team from the University College Cork in Ireland found the changes meant the so-called 'Covid babies' have a lower than expected rate of allergic conditions (Getty Images)About 5% of the Covid babies had developed a food allergy by the age of one, compared to 22.8% seen in the pre-Covid babies. Researchers said that mothers had passed on the beneficial microbes to their babies while pregnant, and they gained additional ones from the environment after they were born. They also found the Covid babies required fewer antibiotics to treat illnesses - of the Covid babies, only 17 percent of pre 'Covid-babies' requiring an antibiotic by the age of one.
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Joint senior author Liam O'Mahony, professor of immunology at the University College Cork, said it was a "fascinating outcome", adding that the findings "correlated with higher levels of beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria." Professor Jonathan Hourihane, consultant pediatrician at Children's Health Ireland Temple Street and joint senior author of the study, added: "This study offers a new perspective on the impact of social isolation in early life on the gut microbiome. Notably, the lower allergy rates among newborns during the lockdown could highlight the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors, such as frequent antibiotic use, on the rise of allergic diseases."
It comes after parents were recently warned of latest symptoms to look out for if diagnosed with Covid. Scientists in the US conducted research into kids with the bug and found that a "high proportion" of those with the infection had raised levels of a biomarker linked to vascular trauma - a blood vessel injury, reports the Mail Online.
The study, published in the Blood Advances, investigated how children's cardiovascular health can change from the virus. Researchers examined the data of 50 paediatric patients hospitalised with the infection from April and July 2020. Dr David Teachey, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said: “Although most children with Covid-19 do not have severe disease, our study shows that there may be other effects of SARS-CoV-2 that are worthy of investigation."
Researchers discovered that 21 of the patients showed minimal to no symptoms, whilst 11 were struck with severe symptoms, and 18 developed alarming complications. Elevated biomarkers for blood vessel damage were detected in all of them, reports The Sun. Blood vessels are channels that carry vital nutrients, such as oxygen, throughout the body. They also move waste products away. If blood vessels become damaged they can spark blood clots, reduce blood flow and cause "leaky" vessels. In the brain, damage to vessels could cause inflammation while in the limbs, it can limit blood flow which could trigger swelling in the toe, which is also known as "Covid toe"