Acta Paediatrica

ABSTRACT Aim To determine whether remote recruitment, electronic consent and at‐home blood collection enabled enrollment of a geographically and socioeconomically diverse infant cohort in the United States (US). Methods We describe the demographics of 256 infants included in this analysis, drawn from 264 enrolled in the Infant Vaccine Biorepository (December 2022–April 2026). Participants were re…

ABSTRACT Aim We investigated current practices of primary ventilation of preterm and term infants directly after birth in hospitals across all levels of neonatal care in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Methods Invitations to an electronic survey were sent to all hospitals with maternity wards in these three countries. Results were compared across countries and gestational age (GA) groups. Resul…

AIM: The randomized controlled Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Diet in Pregnancy (CARRDIP) study demonstrated that a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy could alter maternal lipid levels, improve fetoplacental perfusion, and reduce preterm delivery rate. Here, we examine whether the intervention affected the children 3 years after the CARRDIP study. METHODS: Healthy pregnant women with no previous …

Quality of data on post discharge follow-up in preterm-born children is poor. Preliminary screening improves efficiency by limiting assessment time spent on low-quality reviews.

Ilari Kuitunen How much do we currently know about the optimal follow-up for preterm neonates and is there evidence to guide the practice? In the study by Kaiser and colleagues published in Acta Paediatrica, the authors examine this question by systematically mapping the available evidence [7]. Their work was undertaken as part of the development of an updated German guideline on post-discharge f…

Comprehensive and multimodal psychosocial interventions should be developed and implemented among hospitalized children with a chronic disease and their parents. The predominance of emotional and psychological support interventions reflects the critical need to address the mental health impacts of chronic illness and hospitalization on children with a chronic disease and their families.

SMN risk remains significant for childhood cancer survivors, particularly for CNS and solid tumour cases, highlighting the need for tailored surveillance and further research on the strategies to mitigate long-term adverse outcomes.

Although our overall patient and graft survival rates are lower than global reports, outcomes have improved in the last decade with careful patient and donor selection and changes in LT protocol.

Ambient air pollution, especially fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm and nitrogen dioxide, is associated with adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes and supports exposure reduction during pregnancy and better research on critical exposure windows.

Following PHAS's evaluation, the Swedish government has decided to include varicella vaccination in the NIP from 2027, with catch-up vaccination for susceptible individuals up to 18 years, implemented primarily through the child and school health services to ensure equitable access.

Our analyses suggest that inclusion of varicella vaccination in the national vaccination programme for children would be a cost-saving strategy from a societal perspective, which together with a catch-up vaccination offer for susceptible older children would result in a fast decline of varicella in Sweden.

Early TV exposure may negatively affect cognitive and language development. Children from families with lower educational backgrounds appear particularly vulnerable, highlighting the need for targeted media education and guidance.

A national childhood varicella programme in Sweden could cut transmission and disease burden within 4 years, with catch-up vaccination speeding this to a few years and lowering rebound risk. The schedule should be guided by programmatic considerations.

IC did not have an increased risk of infection but experienced higher hospitalisation rates despite a low incidence of severe disease. This pattern may reflect precautionary clinical management rather than increased disease severity.

Uncertainty remains regarding the extent to which fetal behaviours evidence full conscious experience. Advancing the field requires controlled experimental research and advanced technology to understand consciousness as it first emerges.

Neonatal jaundice is routinely screened transcutaneously or by heel-stick capillary sampling, which assesses only total bilirubin [1], while direct bilirubin requires venous sampling. Recent studies have shown that infants with biliary atresia have elevated direct bilirubin early in life, which could be used for screening [2]; however, routine implementation of venous sampling is limited. In adul…