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Dr Ruth Thornton

Co-head, Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group (BRIDG)

The Platform trial In COVID-19 vaccine priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO) booster vaccination substudy protocol

Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in Australia commenced in February 2021. The first vaccines recommended for use were AZD1222 and BNT162b2, both delivered as a two-dose primary schedule. In the absence of sustained immunity following immunisation, recommendations for booster vaccination have followed. It is likely that periodic boosting will be necessary for at least some Australians, but it is unknown what the optimal booster vaccines and schedules are or for whom vaccination should be recommended.

Randomised controlled trial of perinatal vitamin D supplementation to prevent early-onset acute respiratory infections among Australian First Nations children: the 'D-Kids' study protocol

Globally, acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. While ARI-related mortality is low in Australia, First Nations infants are hospitalised with ARIs up to nine times more often than their non-First Nations counterparts.

Transparent reporting of adaptive clinical trials using concurrently randomised cohorts

Adaptive clinical trials have designs that evolve over time because of changes to treatments or changes to the chance that participants will receive these treatments. These changes might introduce confounding that biases crude comparisons of the treatment arms and makes the results from standard reporting methods difficult to interpret for adaptive trials. To deal with this shortcoming, a reporting framework for adaptive trials was developed based on concurrently randomised cohort reporting.

FeBRILe3: Safety Evaluation of Febrile Infant Guidelines Through Prospective Bayesian Monitoring

Despite evidence supporting earlier discharge of well-appearing febrile infants at low risk of serious bacterial infection (SBI), admissions for ≥48 hours remain common. Prospective safety monitoring may support broader guideline implementation.

Immune impacts of infant whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccination on co-administered vaccines

We compared the effect of a heterologous wP/aP/aP primary series (hereafter mixed wP/aP) versus a homologous aP/aP/aP primary schedule (hereafter aP-only) on antibody responses to co-administered vaccine antigens in infants and toddlers.

Short term safety profile of respiratory syncytial virus vaccine in adults aged ≥ 60 years in Australia

Australia's active vaccine safety surveillance system AusVaxSafety monitors a number of vaccines, including Arexvy, by reporting on solicited adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) through an online survey sent to vaccinees 3 days post-vaccination as previously described.3 Here we report on survey responses from adults aged ≥60 years receiving Arexvy at primary healthcare practices or pharmacies, who responded to the survey by day 7 post-vaccination.

The Unintended Impact of COVID-19 Associated Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on Paediatric Hospital Admissions: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis

COVID-19 related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) disrupted global healthcare utilisation, with notable declines in infection related paediatric hospitalisations. We aimed to identify non-infectious paediatric conditions for which the incidence of hospital admissions increased during the introduction and alleviation of NPIs in 2020.

The Platform Trial In COVID-19 Priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO): The immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of different COVID-19 vaccinations administered as a second booster

PICOBOO is a randomised, adaptive trial evaluating the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of COVID-19 booster strategies. We report data for second boosters among individuals 50-<70 years old primed with AZD1222 (50-<70y-AZD1222) until Day 84.

Statistical considerations for the platform trial in COVID-19 vaccine priming and boosting

The Platform trial In COVID-19 priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO) is a multi-site, adaptive platform trial designed to generate evidence of the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and cross-protection of different booster vaccination strategies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and its variants, specific for the Australian context.