Professor Andrew Currie

The risk of infection-related morbidities and mortality is particularly high in the newborn period. Before birth, the mammalian fetus is protected from adverse effects of exogenous pathogenic microbes and can normally develop its immune system in a near-sterile environment with limited need for immune responses. This condition changes dramatically at birth when rapid adaptations of the innate and adaptive immune systems are required to tolerate and respond to commensal and pathogenic bacteria at epithelial surfaces (e.g. gut, lungs, skin) and fight microbes penetrating to blood and internal organs. Carefully balanced responses of the systemic, organ-related and epithelial immune systems are required to avoid bacterial overgrowth, translocation across immature barriers, and excessive inflammation. The many arms of the mammalian immune system develop differently in different species but comparative studies facilitate insights into mechanisms of perinatal immune development and help identify prophylactic and therapeutic opportunities. Interventions to support neonatal immunity are most critical for those born preterm, growth-restricted, hypoxic, infected or otherwise compromised at birth...