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Influenza vaccination of children with medical comorbidities is critical due their increased risks for severe influenza disease. In Australia, hospitals are an avenue for influenza vaccine delivery to children with comorbidities but are not always effectively utilised. Qualitative enquiry sought to ascertainment the barriers and enablers for influenza vaccination recommendation, delivery, and recording of these children at Australian hospitals.
Pneumonia remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death among young children worldwide, and the diagnostic challenge of differentiating bacterial from non-bacterial pneumonia is the main driver of antibiotic use for treating pneumonia in children. Causal Bayesian networks (BNs) serve as powerful tools for this problem as they provide clear maps of probabilistic relationships between variables and produce results in an explainable way by incorporating both domain expert knowledge and numerical data.
The association between early-life respiratory syncytial virus infections and later respiratory morbidity is well established. However, there is limited evidence on factors that influence this risk. We examined sociodemographic and perinatal factors associated with later childhood respiratory morbidity requiring secondary care following exposure to a laboratory-confirmed RSV episode in the first 2 years.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. RSV seasonality was disrupted by COVID-19-associated nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). We review RSV seasonality, molecular epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and community awareness to inform future prevention strategies.
COVID-19 is a new multi-organ disease causing considerable worldwide morbidity and mortality. While many recognized pathophysiological mechanisms are involved, their exact causal relationships remain opaque. Better understanding is needed for predicting their progression, targeting therapeutic approaches, and improving patient outcomes. While many mathematical causal models describe COVID-19 epidemiology, none have described its pathophysiology.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) seasonality is dependent on the local climate. We assessed the stability of RSV seasonality prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Western Australia (WA), a state spanning temperate and tropical regions.
Pharyngitis, more commonly known as sore throat, is caused by viral and/or bacterial infections. Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) is the most common bacterial cause of pharyngitis. Strep A pharyngitis is an acute, self-limiting disease but if undertreated can lead to suppurative complications, nonsuppurative poststreptococcal immune-mediated diseases, and toxigenic presentations.
Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission disrupted respiratory virus seasonality. We examined the unusual return of human metapneumovirus (hMPV) in Western Australia following a period of absence in 2020.
The relationship between physical activity and child health and development is well-documented, yet the extant literature provides limited causal insight into the amount of physical activity considered optimal for improving any given health or developmental outcome.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza are important causes of disease in children and adults. In Australia, information on the burden of RSV in adults is particularly limited.