Background: Beginning March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted different aspects of life. The impact on children's rate of weight gain has not been analysed. Methods:In this retrospective cohort study, we used United States (US) Electronic Health Record (EHR) data from Optum® to calculate the age-and sex-adjusted change in BMI ( BMI adj ) in individual 6to-17-year-old children between two well child checks (WCCs). The mean of individual BMI adj during 2017-2020 was calculated by month. For September-December WCCs, the mean of individual BMI adj (overall and by subgroup) was reported for 2020 and 2017-2019, and the impact of 2020 vs 2017-2019 was tested by multivariable linear regression. Findings: The mean [95% Confidence Interval -CI] BMI adj in September-December of 2020 was 0 •62 [0 •59,0 •64] kg/m 2 , compared to 0 •31 [0 •29, 0 •32] kg/m 2 in previous years. The increase was most prominent in children with pre-existing obesity (1 •16 [1 •07,1 •24] kg/m 2 in 2020 versus 0 •56 [0 •52,0 •61] kg/m 2 in previous years), Hispanic children (0 •93 [0 •84,1 •02] kg/m 2 in 2020 versus 0 •41 [0 •36,0 •46] kg/m 2 in previous years), and children who lack commercial insurance (0 •88 [0 •81,0 •95] kg/m 2 in 2020 compared to 0 •43 [0 •39,0 •47] kg/m 2 in previous years). BMI adj accelerated most in ages 8-12 and least in ages 15-17.Interpretation: Children's rate of unhealthy weight gain increased notably during the COVID-19 pandemic across demographic groups, and most prominently in children already vulnerable to unhealthy weight gain. This data can inform policy decisions critical to child development and health as the pandemic continues to unfold.

Expression of bone morphogenetic protein receptor 1A (BMPR1A) is attenuated in the lung vessels of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, but the functional impact of this abnormality is unknown. We ablated Bmpr1a in cardiomyocytes and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) by breeding mice possessing a loxP allele of Bmpr1a (Bmpr1a

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Despite increased vaccination rates, the burden, morbidity and mortality associated with vaccine preventable diseases remains high. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), potentially unreliable data and geographically varied program provision call for a better understanding of vaccination coverage and its changes over time at the country and province level. To assess changes in the proportion of children who were fully vaccinated over time in the DRC, vaccination histories for children 12–59 months of age were obtained from both the 2007 and 2013–2014 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Changes were assessed, both at the country- and province-levels, to identify potential geographic variations. Vaccination coverage improved 70% between the DHS waves: 26% compared to 44% of 12–59 month-old children met full vaccination criteria in 2007 and 2013–2014, respectively (n 2007 = 3032 and n 2013-14 = 6619). Similarly, there was an overall trend across both DHS waves where as year of birth increased, so did vaccination coverage. There was geographic variation in immunization changes with most central and eastern provinces increasing in coverage and most northern, western and southern provinces having decreased vaccination coverage at the second time point. Using nationally representative data, we identified significant changes over time in vaccination coverage which may help to inform future policy, interventions and research to improve vaccination rates among children in the DRC. This study is the first of its kind for the population of DRC and provides an important initial step towards better understanding trends in vaccination coverage over time.