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First bacteria we ever meet can keep us out of hospital

First bacteria we ever meet can keep us out of hospital

Yahoo05-06-2025
The first bacteria our bodies meet – in the hours after we're born – could protect us from dangerous infections, UK scientists say.
They have shown, for the first time, that good bacteria seem to halve the risk of young children being admitted to hospital with lung infections.
The researchers said it was a "phenomenal" finding and could lead to therapies that boost good bacteria in babies.
Our early encounters with microbes are thought to be crucial in how our immune system develops.
We come out of the womb sterile, but this doesn't last for long. All the nooks and crannies of the human body become home to a world of microbial life, known as the microbiome.
More than half your body is not human
Microbiome podcast: The Second Genome
Researchers at University College London and the Sanger Institute investigated the earliest stages in our body's colonisation by bacteria, fungi and more.
They collected stool samples from 1,082 newborns in the first week of life. The team then performed a massive genetic analysis on all the DNA in the samples to work out exactly which species were present and how common they were in each child.
They then tracked what happened to those babies, using hospital data, for the next two years.
One particular early inhabitant of the human body, Bifidobacterium longum, seemed to have a protective effect.
Only 4% of babies with this species would spend a night in hospital with a lung infection over the next two years. Babies with different starter-bacteria were two-to-three times more likely to need to stay in hospital.
It is the first data to show the formation of the microbiome affects the risk of infection.
"I think it's really phenomenal. It's amazing to be able to show this. I'm excited," Prof Nigel Field, from UCL, told the BBC.
The most likely culprit for children ending up in hospital is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but what joins the dots between this and B. longum?
That is the "million dollar question" for Prof Field.
We know B. longum starts off digesting breast milk which both contains food for the baby and encourages good bacteria.
The exact details have not yet been worked out, but either the bacteria themselves or the compounds they make by digesting food are interacting with the immune system "and are influencing the way in which the immune system matures and is able to recognise friend from foe," according to Prof Field.
The protective bacteria were found only in babies that came into the world via a vaginal delivery rather than a caesarean. Even then they were not discovered after every vaginal delivery.
The researchers say their findings do not justify the practice of vaginal seeding, where some new parents smear babies with a swab taken from the vagina.
How method of birth alters babies' bacteria
The good bacteria seem to be coming from the end of the mother's digestive system, an idea known in the field as the "first lick".
"I feel pretty confident in saying that vaginal seeding is not a good thing," said Prof Field.
However, the long-term ambition is to come up with microbial therapies – like a probiotic yogurt – that could be given to babies to set their microbiomes on a healthy path.
Prof Louise Kenny, from the University of Liverpool and a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said: "A caesarean section is often a life-saving procedure, and can be the right choice for a woman and her baby."
She said that while the benefit was seen only in babies born vaginally, it was not in every child born that way so "further research is needed to create a full, nuanced picture".
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This Is the Age Range When Air Pollution Starts Damaging Your Brain
This Is the Age Range When Air Pollution Starts Damaging Your Brain

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  • Newsweek

This Is the Age Range When Air Pollution Starts Damaging Your Brain

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Air pollution has long been linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, but new research suggests it may also significantly impair brain health—especially when exposure occurs during midlife. Researchers from University College London and King's College London published a study in The Lancet Healthy Longevity that identified the ages of 45 to 69 as a critical window during which air pollution is linked to cognitive decline and structurally damaging changes in the brain. Researchers followed participants in the study for nearly three decades, measuring exposure to pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter, while assessing memory and processing speeds. They found that ambient air pollution can affect cognitive aging and increase dementia risk even before clinical symptoms emerge. Stock image of smoke billowing from three industrial chimneys. Stock image of smoke billowing from three industrial chimneys. Photo by Bilanol / Getty Images Why It Matters The global dementia burden is rising rapidly. Cases of the cognitive disease are projected to triple from 57 million to 153 million by 2050, according to the 2024 Lancet Commission, and identifying risk factors is crucial to slowing the trend. "Air pollution has been called the invisible killer and is the number one environmental threat to health in the world," study lead author Thomas Canning told Newsweek in an email. "The mortality burden of air pollution is not new—according to the chief medical officer's annual report in England, it is estimated to be between 26,000 and 38,000 premature deaths a year, but in addition to this, many people suffer avoidable chronic ill health. "This mortality has been linked to the effect of dirty air on the heart and lungs from cradle to death, but there is now an increasing body of evidence that suggests that air pollution isn't great for our brain either, with evidence suggested by our current and previous seminal research on these associations from the early developmental years now reaching up to later life." What To Know The study found that midlife exposure to nitrogen dioxide was associated with an 8.12-point decrease in processing speed on a 15-item recall task. Higher exposure levels also correlated with a 0.59-point reduction on the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination III, a standardized test for cognitive impairment. These effects remained noteworthy even after adjusting for childhood cognitive ability and earlier-life exposure, suggesting that midlife may be a uniquely vulnerable period for adults living with air pollution. "Childhood is a really pivotal time, but evidence prior to this study was also very clear about the risk to older adults due to the vulnerability of older age," Canning told Newsweek. "With the use of a novel 70-year follow-up period of people born in 1946, this study helped to clarify for the first time that exposure to air pollution in midlife was a risk to cognition and the brain in older age after taking into account a large number of lifelong socio-economic and clinical measures, as well taking into account exposure to air pollution from early childhood." What People Are Saying "It's really clear that air pollution at any exposure level is bad for many health problems—whether that's in children or adults," Canning told Newsweek. "Air pollution, like climate change, is not a problem to be entirely resolved or mitigated by scientists alone, but an issue deeply embedded into our individual and societal decisions and the power relations of our political systems. "Air pollution is a risk factor that is easily modifiable, and action can start at any level. There are many different ways that even local government can reduce it, and we know these changes work." What's Next Scientists in an accompanying Lancet commentary on the study noted, "Realistically, air pollution cannot be reduced by individual action but only through public health approaches." "Dementia-specific recommendations might include building/locating care homes away from busy roads, improving guidelines for healthcare professionals on considering the impact of the environment on their patients, and the development of behavioral interventions such as nature prescribing for dementia patients," Canning added.

Younger, Smaller Children Show Less Success With ART
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Medscape

timea day ago

  • Medscape

Younger, Smaller Children Show Less Success With ART

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Press Release: Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline
Press Release: Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline

Yahoo

time2 days ago

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Press Release: Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline

Sanofi to acquire Vicebio, expanding respiratory vaccines pipeline Paris, July 22, 2025. Sanofi today announces it has entered into an agreement to acquire Vicebio Ltd ('Vicebio'), a privately held biotechnology company headquartered in London, UK. The acquisition brings an early-stage combination vaccine candidate for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV), both respiratory viruses, and expands the capabilities in vaccine design and development with Vicebio's 'Molecular Clamp' technology. The vaccine candidate complements Sanofi's position in the respiratory vaccines space where the company is present in flu and RSV prevention. It allows Sanofi to offer increased physician and patient choice in RSV and hMPV by adding a non-mRNA vaccine to its pipeline. 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'This acquisition furthers Sanofi's dedication to vaccine innovation with the potential to develop next-generation combination vaccines that could provide protection to older adults against multiple respiratory viruses with a single immunization." 'We are excited to join Sanofi', said Emmanuel Hanon, Chief Executive Officer at Vicebio. 'Their global scale and deep expertise in vaccine development provide the ideal environment to fully realize the potential of our innovative technology. As part of the Sanofi team, we look forward to advancing our platform and pipeline to deliver meaningful benefits for patients and public health.' Vicebio's pipeline includes VXB-241, a bivalent vaccine candidate targeting RSV and hMPV, currently in an exploratory phase 1 study in older adults, and VXB-251, a preclinical trivalent vaccine candidate targeting RSV, hMPV and parainfluenza virus Type 3 (PIV3). RSV, HMPV and PIV3 are leading causes of lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia. While often causing overlapping symptoms such as cough, fever, and respiratory distress, these viruses are antigenically distinct, frequently co-circulating and contributing to seasonal surges in respiratory illness that can lead to older adult frailty, hospitalization and, in some cases, death. Financial considerations Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi would acquire all of Vicebio's share capital for a total upfront payment of $1,15 billion, with potential milestone payments of up to $450 million based on development and regulatory achievements. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals. The acquisition will not have a significant impact on Sanofi's financial guidance for 2025. About Sanofi Sanofi is an R&D driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people's lives and delivering compelling growth. We apply our deep understanding of the immune system to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world, with an innovative pipeline that could benefit millions more. Our team is guided by one purpose: we chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives; this inspires us to drive progress and deliver positive impact for our people and the communities we serve, by addressing the most urgent healthcare, environmental, and societal challenges of our time. Sanofi is listed on EURONEXT: SAN and NASDAQ: SNY About Vicebio Vicebio is focused on developing next-generation respiratory virus vaccines using the Molecular Clamp Technology. The company was founded with investment from Medicxi and acquired the rights to the Molecular Clamp technology through a license from UniQuest, the commercialization arm of The University of Queensland, Australia. This proprietary technology was developed by Prof. Paul Young, Prof. Daniel Watterson, and Prof. Keith Chappell at UQ. For more information, please visit: Sanofi Media RelationsSandrine Guendoul | +33 6 25 09 14 25 | Evan Berland | +1 215 432 0234 | Le Bourhis | +33 6 75 06 43 81 | Rouault | +33 6 70 93 71 40 | Timothy Gilbert | +1 516 521 2929 | Léa Ubaldi | +33 6 30 19 66 46 | Sanofi Investor RelationsThomas Kudsk Larsen | +44 7545 513 693 | Kaisserian | +33 6 47 04 12 11 | Felix Lauscher | +1 908 612 7239 | Browne | +1 781 249 1766 | Nathalie Pham | +33 7 85 93 30 17 | Tarik Elgoutni | +1 617 710 3587 | Châtelet | +33 6 80 80 89 90 | Yun Li | +33 6 84 00 90 72 | Sanofi forward-looking statementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions, and expectations with respect to future financial results, events, operations, services, product development and potential, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words 'expects', 'anticipates', 'believes', 'intends', 'estimates', 'plans' and similar expressions. Although Sanofi's management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Sanofi, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such product candidates, the fact that product candidates if approved may not be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives, Sanofi's ability to benefit from external growth opportunities, to complete related transactions and/or obtain regulatory clearances, risks associated with intellectual property and any related pending or future litigation and the ultimate outcome of such litigation, trends in exchange rates and prevailing interest rates, volatile economic and market conditions, cost containment initiatives and subsequent changes thereto, and the impact that global crises may have on us, our customers, suppliers, vendors, and other business partners, and the financial condition of any one of them, as well as on our employees and on the global economy as a whole. The risks and uncertainties also include the uncertainties discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by Sanofi, including those listed under 'Risk Factors' and 'Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements' in Sanofi's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024. Other than as required by applicable law, Sanofi does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements. Attachment Press_ReleaseError in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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