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Monitoring how the incidence of influenza infections changes over time is important for quantifying the transmission dynamics and clinical severity of influenza. Infection incidence is difficult to measure directly, and hence, other quantities which are more amenable to surveillance are used to monitor trends in infection levels, with the implicit assumption that they correlate with infection incidence.
Neonatal and puerperal sepsis are major manifestations of invasive group B streptococcal (Streptococcus agalactiae; iGBS) infections. International data indicate the importance of iGBS infections among non-pregnant adults.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection with a higher burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and children. We conducted a pilot qualitative study identifying disease knowledge and willingness to immunise following the changing immunisation landscape for infant RSV in 2024.
Interferon γ release assays (IGRAs) are widely used for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. However, with repeated testing, IGRA transformation (conversion or reversion) may be detected and is challenging to interpret. We reviewed the frequency of and risk factors for IGRA transformation.
Socio-economic inequality and vaccination inequity have long been critical issues. However, no studies have explored the gap in influenza vaccination uptake between public and private schools. Importantly, the extent to which socio-economic inequality translates into vaccination uptake inequity has not been quantified.
Pneumococcal – a bacterial infection that can cause pneumonia and meningitis – is responsible for 1000s of hospital admissions in Australia each year, many of them children.
Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) causes a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from pharyngitis and impetigo to severe invasive infections and immune-mediated conditions such as acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Contemporary data on the global burden of Strep A diseases are lacking.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global healthcare emergency, directly causing 1.3 million deaths per year and predicted to increase dramatically over the coming decades. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning antibiotic resistance is central to approaches for AMR surveillance and diagnosis in a clinical laboratory.
Multidrug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) are major public health threats that are significant causes of physical sequelae and financial consequences for infected people. Treatment for MDR- and XDR-TB are more toxic and take longer duration than for drug-susceptible-TB. As a result, the long-term sequelae are thought to be more common among patients with MDR- and XDR-TB than drug-susceptible-TB, but this is yet to be quantified.
Australian children and adolescents were among the last local cohorts offered COVID-19 vaccines. Despite promising initial uptake, coverage subsequently plateaued, requiring further efforts to improve access and build parents’ recognition of the importance of COVID-19 vaccination.