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Research

Otitis media (OM; middle ear infection) is the most common reason for pre-school children to visit a doctor, be prescribed antimicrobials, or undergo surgery. Recent Cochrane reviews of clinical trials have identified that antibiotics and grommet surgery are only moderately effective in treating OM, with recurrent or persistent infection observed in one-third of children. Research efforts are focusing on developing improved therapies to treat OM and prevent disease recurrence.

Research

Pregnant women are at higher risk of severe complications following influenza infection compared to the general population. Influenza vaccination during pregnancy can offer direct protection to pregnant women and passive immunity to infants up to 6 months of age via maternal antibodies. Pregnant women are a high priority group for influenza immunization.

Research

Influenza is the most common vaccine-preventable disease in Australia, causing significant morbidity and mortality. We assessed the burden of influenza across all ages in terms of influenza-associated mortality and hospitalizations using national mortality, hospital-discharge and influenza surveillance data.

Research

To examine rates and predictors of 7-day readmission in infants hospitalised before 3 months of age with infectious and non-infectious conditions. A retrospective population-based data-linkage study of 121 854 infants from a 5-year metropolitan birth cohort (2008-2012). Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine associations between infant and maternal factors with 7-day readmission.

Research

Detection of pneumonia-causing respiratory viruses in the nasopharynx of asymptomatic children has made their actual contribution to pneumonia unclear. We compared nasopharyngeal viral density between children with and without pneumonia to understand if viral density could be used to diagnose pneumonia.

Research

There is no consensus about which outcomes should be evaluated in studies of pulmonary exacerbations in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Outcomes used for evaluation should be meaningful; that is, they should capture how people feel, function or survive and be acknowledged as important to people with CF, or should be reliable surrogates of those outcomes. We aimed to summarise the outcomes and corresponding endpoints which have been reported in studies of pulmonary exacerbations, and to identify those which are most likely to be meaningful.

Research

Rapid blood culture pathogen identification facilitated by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight and GeneXpert has the potential to improve antibiotic prescribing. This study investigates the impact of these rapid diagnostics on the timeliness of effective and optimal antibiotic prescribing in paediatric patients with bacteraemia.

Research

Children with cochlear implants are at increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease, with national and international guidelines recommending additional pneumococcal vaccines for these children. This study aimed to examine the pneumococcal immunization status and rate of invasive pneumococcal disease in children with cochlear implants at a tertiary paediatric hospital over a 12-year period.

Research

To determine the ability to accurately diagnose acute rheumatic fever given the resources available at three levels of the Ugandan healthcare system.

Research

Following a relative absence in winter 2020, a large resurgence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) detections occurred during the 2020/2021 summer in Western Australia. This seasonal shift was linked to SARS-CoV-2 public health measures. We examine the epidemiology and RSV testing of respiratory-coded admissions, and compare clinical phenotype of RSV-positive admissions between 2019 and 2020.