Nursery World - Researchers to examine if 'lockdown' babies are more likely to develop allergies

Research is under way in Ireland to determine if infants born during lockdown have an increased likelihood of developing allergies.

Researchers will look at whether lockdown had a positive or negative impact on babies developing allergies (stock image)

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.

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