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Christopher Blyth MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD Centre Head, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases; Co-Head, Infectious Diseases

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of childhood morbidity, however there is no systematic testing in children hospitalised with respiratory symptoms. Therefore, current RSV incidence likely underestimates the true burden.

The global disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the life of every child either directly or indirectly. This review explores the pathophysiology, immune response, clinical presentation and treatment of COVID-19 in children, summarising the most up-to-date data including recent developments regarding variants of concern.

Children globally have been profoundly impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This review explores the direct and indirect public health impacts of COVID-19 on children. We discuss in detail the transmission dynamics, vaccination strategies and, importantly, the ‘shadow pandemic’, encompassing underappreciated indirect impacts of the pandemic on children.

Scedosporium spp. are the second most prevalent filamentous fungi after Aspergillus spp. recovered from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients in various regions of the world. Although invasive infection is uncommon prior to lung transplantation, fungal colonization may be a risk factor for invasive disease with attendant high mortality post-transplantation. Abundant in the environment, Scedosporium aurantiacum has emerged as an important fungal pathogen in a range of clinical settings.

An interseasonal resurgence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was observed in Western Australia at the end of 2020. Our previous report describing this resurgence compared the 2019 and 2020 calendar years, capturing only part of the 2020/21 season.

Christopher Blyth MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD Centre Head, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases; Co-Head, Infectious Diseases

On 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.

Infants aged <6 months are vulnerable to severe influenza disease and no vaccine is approved for use in this age group. We aimed to describe the epidemiology, risk factors associated with severe outcomes and management of influenza in Australian infants aged <6 months.

To examine if the association between interpregnancy interval (IPI) and pregnancy complications varies by the presence or absence of previous complications. Design and setting Population-based longitudinally linked cohort study in Western Australia (WA).