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Research

Respiratory viruses significantly impact global morbidity and mortality, causing more disease in humans than any other infectious agent. Beyond pathogens, various viruses and bacteria colonize the respiratory tract without causing disease, potentially influencing respiratory diseases’ pathogenesis.

Research

Shannon Elizabeth Simpson Smith BMedSci (hons), PhD PhD, MSc, BSc Head, Strong Beginnings Research, Co-head Foundations of Lung Disease Program

Research

Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in childhood. While generally safe, it often is associated with a difficult early recovery phase with poor oral intake, dehydration, difficult or painful swallowing, postoperative bleeding, infection and/or otalgia.

Research

Chronic pain assessment tools exist for children, but may not be valid, reliable, and feasible for populations with functional, cognitive or communication limitations, for example, cerebral palsy (CP). This study aimed to (i) identify chronic pain assessment tools used with children and young people and rate their measurement properties; (ii) develop a CP specific feasibility rating tool to assess the feasibility of tools in CP; and (iii) categorise tools according to reporting method.

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In cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal dysfunction and lower airway infection occur early and are independently associated with poorer outcomes in childhood. This study aimed to define the relationship between the microbiota at each niche during the first 2 years of life, its association with growth and airway inflammation, and explanatory features in the metabolome. 

Research

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB) is the most common cause of sepsis, contributing to paediatric intensive care unit admission in Australia and New Zealand. While deep venous thrombosis (DVT) has been reported in children with invasive S. aureus infections, the actual frequency and possible effects of thrombosis on disease severity and outcome in paediatric SAB remain unknown. Moreover, guidance regarding imaging for paediatric SAB management are poorly defined. 

Research

This paper provides the first causal evidence on the impact of retirement on housing choices. Our empirical strategy exploits the discontinuity in the eligibility ages for state pension as an instrument for the endogenous retirement decision and controls for time-invariant individual characteristics. The results show that retirement leads to a statistically significant and sizable increase in the probability of making a residential move or the likelihood of becoming outright homeowners.

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Acute leukemia continues to be a major cause of death from disease worldwide and current chemotherapeutic agents are associated with significant morbidity in survivors. While better and safer treatments for acute leukemia are urgently needed, standard drug development pipelines are lengthy and drug repurposing therefore provides a promising approach.

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PEGasparaginase is known to be a critical drug for treating pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), however, there is insufficient evidence to determine the optimal dose for infants who are less than one year of age at diagnosis. This international study was conducted to identify the pharmacokinetics of PEGasparaginase in infants with newly diagnosed ALL and gather insight into the clearance and dosing of this population.

Research

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) improve patient care by standardising medical practice. However, little is known about their applicability in low-resource settings. Since 2010, Fiji has introduced guidelines to increase the application of evidence-based practice.