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During winter months of temperate regions, concurrent epidemics of multiple respiratory pathogens can occur, causing periods of increased clinical burden. Case time series, which are predominantly used to monitor infection levels, can exhibit substantial noise and day-of-the-week effects, limiting the visual interpretation of trends in raw data.
Since its emergence in 1968, influenza A H3N2 has caused yearly epidemics in temperate regions. While infection confers immunity against antigenically similar strains, new antigenically distinct strains that evade existing immunity regularly emerge ('antigenic drift'). Immunity at the individual level is complex, depending on an individual's lifetime infection history.
The relationship between ethnicity and mortality of patients critically ill with COVID-19 in Australia has not been described. Defining those communities at the highest risk of severe COVID-19 may assist with formulating effective public health policy and may improve the equitable delivery of health care in Australia.
Current immunization guidelines recommend one dose of influenza vaccine for children aged ≥9 years and two doses for younger or vaccine-naïve children. However, children receiving chemotherapy have an attenuated immune response. We performed a prospective open-label study in children undergoing treatment for cancer at Perth Children's Hospital, Western Australia, to examine the safety and efficacy of a boosted influenza schedule.
Estimating the temporal trends in infectious disease activity is crucial for monitoring disease spread and the impact of interventions. Surveillance indicators routinely collected to monitor these trends are often a composite of multiple pathogens. For example, "influenza-like illness"-routinely monitored as a proxy for influenza infections-is a symptom definition that could be caused by a wide range of pathogens, including multiple subtypes of influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV.
Avian influenza viruses (AIVs) pose a growing global health threat, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where limited surveillance capacity and under-resourced healthcare systems hinder timely detection and response. Migratory birds play a significant role in the transboundary spread of AIVs, yet data from key regions along migratory flyways remain sparse. To address these surveillance gaps, we conducted a study between December 2021 and February 2023 using fresh bird guano collected across 10 countries in the Global South.
Neisseria meningitidis serogroups B, C, and Y cause most meningococcal disease in industrialized countries...
The Western Australian Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness study commenced in 2008 to evaluate a new program to provide free influenza vaccine to all children...
The Western Australian Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness study commenced in 2008 to evaluate a new program to provide free influenza vaccine to all children...
Previous studies have suggested that in vitro modulation of neutrophil chemokines and inflammatory cytokines by neutrophil elastase (NE) does not translate to t