Middle ear effusion, ventilation tubes and neurological development in childhood.

Background: Otitis media with middle ear effusion (MEE) can be treated with ventilation tubes (VT) insertion, and it has been speculated that prolonged MEE in childhood can affect neurological development, which in turn may be important for later academic achievements.

Objective: To investigate the association between middle ear effusion (MEE), treatment with ventilation tubes (VT) and childhood neurological development.

Study Design: We examined 663 children from the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 (COPSAC2010) unselected mother-child cohort study.

Early life bacterial airway colonization, local immune mediator response and risk of otitis media.

Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common bacterial infection in early childhood, but the underlying mechanisms making some children more susceptible are poorly understood. To examine the associations between bacterial airway colonization in early life and the risk of AOM and tympanostomy tube insertion (TTI), and whether such associations are modulated by an insufficient local immune mediator response to bacterial colonization. Bacterial cultures from hypopharyngeal samples were obtained at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months of age in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 (COPSAC) cohort comprising 700 children.

Distinct immune phenotypes in infants developing asthma during childhood.

Early exposure to environmental triggers may elicit trajectories to chronic inflammatory disease through deregulated immune responses. To address relations between early immune competence and development of childhood asthma, we performed functional immune profiling of 186 parameters in blood of 541 18-month-old infants and examined links between their response phenotype and development of transient or persistent disease at 6 years of age. An abnormal neutrophil-linked antiviral response was associated with increased risk of transient asthma.

Infectious diseases detected by screening after arrival to Denmark in internationally adopted children.

Aim: To show the prevalence of selected infectious diseases among internationally adopted children (IAC) in Denmark.

Background: Each year approximately 200 IAC arrive in Denmark. These are at increased risk of infectious diseases rarely seen in Danish children.

Antibiotics in Pregnancy Increase Children's Risk of Otitis Media and Ventilation Tubes.

Objectives: To study the association between antibiotic intake in pregnancy and the development of otitis media and placement of ventilation tubes (VTs) in the offspring under the hypothesis that antibiotics in pregnancy may alter the offspring's propensity for disease.

Study Design: Data from the 700 children in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 unselected birth cohort study were used. Information on maternal antibiotic use and other exposures during pregnancy was collected prospectively from interviews and validated in national registries.

Incidence and Determinants of Ventilation Tubes in Denmark.

Background And Objectives: Many children are treated for recurrent acute otitis media and middle ear effusion with ventilation tubes (VT). The objectives are to describe the incidence of VT in Denmark during 1997-2011 from national register data, furthermore, to analyze the determinants for VT in the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood2010 (COPSAC2010) birth cohort.

Methods: The incidence of VT in all children under 16 years from 1997-2011 were calculated in the Danish national registries.

Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation During Pregnancy on Risk of Persistent Wheeze in the Offspring: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Observational studies have suggested that increased dietary vitamin D intake during pregnancy may protect against wheezing in the offspring, but the preventive effect of vitamin D supplementation to pregnant women is unknown.

Objective: To determine whether supplementation of vitamin D3 during the third trimester of pregnancy reduces the risk of persistent wheeze in the offspring.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A double-blind, single-center, randomized clinical trial conducted within the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 cohort.

[The risk of infections in internationally adopted children is real].

Each year approximately 400 internationally adopted children (IAC) come to Denmark from countries with high prevalences of infectious diseases. Former studies of IAC have shown that approximately 1% of the IAC are infected with Hepatitis A, 3-6% with Hepatitis B, mostly asymptomatic infections. 8-27% have gastrointestinal parasites and 1-7% have tuberculosis, but 3-21% have a positive Mantoux test.