Authors
Marianna Karachaliou, Manolis Kogevinas, George Davey Smith, Anne-Marie Nybo Andersen, Demetris Avraam, Henrique Barros, Sunil Bhopal, Nicklas Brustad, Mariona Bustamante, Klaus Bønnelykke, Marie-Aline Charles, Payam Dadvand, Carlota Dobaño, Marie-Noëlle Dufourg, Mireia Gascon, Fergus Hamilton, Tarik Karramass, Aitana Lertxundi, Sabrina Llop, Per Magnus, Susana Santos, Lill-Iren Schou Trogstad, Nic J Timpson, Martine Vrijheid, Tim Waterboer, Marieke Welten, John Wright, Lucy Pembrey, Liesbeth Duijts, Vincent W V Jaddoe
Published in
European journal of epidemiology. Aug 20, 2026. Epub Aug 20, 2026.
Abstract
Research into the developmental origins of, and lifecourse influences on, health and disease has a significant gap: infections. Clinical and subclinical infections are nearly universal in early life and can induce structural and functional changes in developing organ systems with life-long consequences. Emerging evidence links common childhood infections-such as Epstein-Barr virus, Cytomegalovirus and Helicobacter pylori-to so-called non-communicable diseases ranging from respiratory to neurodevelopmental and cardiometabolic diseases. Identifying infectious determinants of non-communicable diseases offers substantial opportunities for prevention and early intervention. We describe a newly developed infectious data resource within the EU Child Cohort Network, designed to enable triangulation of evidence on the impact of early life infections on children's health and long-term trajectories of disease. The network established in 2017, currently brings together 37 pregnancy and childhood cohorts from 16 predominantly European countries and follows over 300,000 children and their families from pregnancy through childhood and, in many cohorts, into adulthood. Cohorts include a comprehensive set of harmonized variables covering health and disease phenotypes (cardiometabolic, respiratory, and mental) that are also well-established early indicators of later-life non-communicable disease risk. Building upon this, we present here the extensive infections data available in the cohorts ranging from questionnaires and registries to serological measurements for more than 20 pathogens. Harmonizing and integrating infection data within the EU Child Cohort Network supports a shift from viewing infections solely as causes of acute disease towards recognising them as integral components of the early-life exposome and potential determinants of lifelong health trajectories.
PMID:
42623000
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 21 Aug 2026.
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