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International Pediatric COVID-19 Severity over the Course of the PandemicMultiple SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged over the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications for COVID-19 severity in children worldwide are unclear. The objective was to determine whether the dominant circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) were associated with differences in COVID-19 severity among hospitalized children.
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A single blinded, phase IV, adaptive randomised control trial to evaluate the safety of coadministration of seasonal influenza and COVID-19 vaccines (The FluVID study)We evaluated the frequency of moderate and severe adverse events following coadministration of seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) versus placebo with COVID-19 vaccines among adults to support practice guidelines.
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Off-season RSV epidemics in Australia after easing of COVID-19 restrictionsHuman respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute respiratory infection with the most severe disease in the young and elderly. Non-pharmaceutical interventions and travel restrictions for controlling COVID-19 have impacted the circulation of most respiratory viruses including RSV globally, particularly in Australia, where during 2020 the normal winter epidemics were notably absent.
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Viral haemorrhagic fevers and malaria co-infections among febrile patients seeking health care in TanzaniaIn recent years there have been reports of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa where malaria is endemic. VHF and malaria have overlapping clinical presentations making differential diagnosis a challenge.
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Blinatumomab as bridging therapy in paediatric B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia complicated by invasive fungal diseaseInvasive fungal disease (IFD) remains a challenging complication of treatment for paediatric acute leukaemia. Consensus fungal treatment guidelines recommend withholding chemotherapy to facilitate immune recovery in this setting, yet prolonged delays in leukaemia therapy increase risk of relapse.
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Preventing severe influenza in Australian infants: Maternal influenza vaccine effectiveness in the PAEDS-FluCAN networks using the test-negative designChristopher Blyth MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD Centre Head, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases; Co-Head, Infectious Diseases
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Consensus guidelines for antifungal stewardship, surveillance and infection prevention, 2021Invasive fungal diseases (IFD) are serious infections associated with high mortality, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The prescribing of antifungal agents to prevent and treat IFD is associated with substantial economic burden on the health system, high rates of adverse drug reactions, significant drug-drug interactions and the emergence of antifungal resistance.
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Does a major change to a COVID-19 vaccine program alter vaccine intention? A qualitative investigationOn 8th April 2021, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) made the Pfizer-BioNtech (Comirnaty) vaccine the “preferred” vaccine for adults in Australia aged < 50 years due to a risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) following AstraZeneca vaccination. We sought to understand whether this impacted COVID-19 vaccine intentions.
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Emulator-based Bayesian optimization for efficient multi-objective calibration of an individual-based model of malariaIndividual-based models have become important tools in the global battle against infectious diseases, yet model complexity can make calibration to biological and epidemiological data challenging. We propose using a Bayesian optimization framework employing Gaussian process or machine learning emulator functions to calibrate a complex malaria transmission simulator.
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Comparison of group A streptococcal titres in healthy children and those with pharyngitis and skin infectionsRates of acute rheumatic fever, a sequelae of group A Streptococcal (GAS) infection, remain unacceptably high in Indigenous Māori and Pacific children in New Zealand. This prospective study aimed to describe GAS antibody titres in healthy children (5–14 years) by ethnicity, and to determine how paired titres vary with GAS culture positive and negative pharyngitis, and GAS skin infections.