Scientists from the department of paediatrics at Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) and clinician scientists from Children’s Hospital at Temple Street in Dublin will investigate whether the lower rates of viral infections and improved air quality which resulted from the lockdown will make allergic conditions more or less common in children born to families who have experienced social distancing and isolation.
Professor of paediatrics at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Jonathan Hourihane, who is leading the study of 1,000 infants born in Ireland between March and May 2020, said that the lockdown presents a ‘unique scientific opportunity’ to examine the early origins of often lifelong diseases, issues that constitute a major health and social burden in Ireland and other developed countries.
Professor Hourihane says that allergic diseases like eczema, asthma, hayfever and food allergy have become more common over the last 30 years. This is thought to result from decreased exposure to infections, due to smaller family sizes, the introduction of effective immunisations against the most serious infections and community focus on hygiene. Air quality, which has also worsened in Ireland and in other industrialised nations over the last 30 years, also affects allergic conditions.
He added, ‘After birth, a baby’s immune system soon focuses on all the new challenges that life outside the womb brings, including fighting off infections and responding to immunisations. We want to see children playing on the floor, getting dirty, and being exposed to lots of people in lots of environments. The outcome of this is usually a stronger immune system, linked to a healthy population of gut bacteria, called the microbiome.
‘Ireland’s Covid-19 lockdown appears to have reduced the amount of other viral infections, which typically circulate in the community. We have seen less than half the usual number of attendances at paediatric emergency departments and rates of seasonal influenza and other late spring upper respiratory viruses seemed much lower than usual during this time.’
Children who take part in the research will have a blood sample taken at the beginning of the study and at one year to test for Covid-19 antibodies. Stool samples will also be examined at six months and at one year to determine children's gut bacteria/microbiome profile. Allergy tests will be performed at one year and two years old to detect if they have developed markers of allergic conditions. If allergies are detected, the children involved in the study will get allergy care faster than they would otherwise, says the research team.