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Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of non-optimal temperatures and heatwaves, posing risks to public health, especially for children and young people. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impacts of (i) non-optimal ambient temperatures and (ii) heatwaves on mental health outcomes in this group globally.

Multi-omics in combination with advanced computational methodologies synthesizes diverse omics data to provide deeper insights into molecular interactions and offers transformative potential for unravelling phenomenon behind disease complexities, improving diagnostics, disease prevention, and personalized treatments. This integrative strategy enables our understanding of gene-environment relationships, chronic disease progression, and the intricate molecular pathways involved in health. 

Severe microcephaly, or head circumference at least 3 standard deviations below the mean for age and sex, is a rare condition with diverse etiology, making diagnosis challenging. Following the 2015 to 2016 Zika virus outbreak, surveillance studies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and Ireland were conducted to monitor severe microcephaly. We describe the etiology, clinical features, and diagnostic investigations of severe microcephaly among children aged younger than 1 year.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is a common infection at birth with the potential to cause significant and permanent morbidity, most commonly hearing loss. Targeted cCMV testing programmes use hearing loss as an indicator of an infant being at high risk of the infection and thereby can 'target' or focus testing on those at greatest risk. Australian and International guidelines recommend that high-risk infants be offered cCMV testing, yet across Australia, a formal testing system does not exist.

Movement is at the core of human existence. For infants and children, exploratory movement offers a scaffold for important learning and development outcomes, and in adolescents and adults, regular activity is key for promoting good physical and mental health.

Preterm infants are commonly treated with antibiotics on admission to the neonatal unit as part of routine care. We aimed to identify infants <32 weeks' gestation at low risk of early-onset sepsis (EOS) in whom antibiotics could be safely withheld.

Many children and their families, especially those from priority populations, experience barriers to accessing high-quality early childhood health, education, social and legal services. Further, these families are often under-represented in service planning and research; hence innovations are not designed to meet their needs. Our aim is to codesign with families and the wider community, a Strength-based, Tiered, Accessible Resources and Supports for Kids (STARS for Kids) programme to optimise child development, parental mental well-being, and family psychosocial needs in the first 2000 days from pregnancy to start of school

Water chlorination is essential for controlling harmful microbes in drinking water; however, the antimicrobial effects of chlorine-based disinfectants present in tap water may influence early-life gut microbial ecology.

Little is known about how or when language and visuospatial processing lateralise in the brain, and if individual differences in lateralisation are related to early language or visuospatial abilities. We explored if patterns of language and visuospatial lateralisation are related to cognitive skills in young children.

Human milk is a rich source of immunomodulatory factors that influence the development of the infant immune system, including susceptibility to allergic diseases. Among these components, milk antibodies have been extensively studied for their role in protecting against infections; however, their potential contribution to allergy prevention may be equally important. The mechanisms of protection include allergen exclusion, enhanced and targeted antigen presentation, immune modulation via shaping of the infant gut microbiome, and direct regulation of gut immune responses.