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Respiratory syncytial virus is the second most common cause of infant mortality and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in older adults (aged >60 years). Efforts to develop a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine or immunoprophylaxis remain highly active.
Many publications have demonstrated the detrimental effects of school closures on children, families and communities in the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, there is a surge of Omicron cases as children prepare to return to school around the world. While many children are asymptomatic or have mild disease, it is nevertheless an important problem.
We aimed to assess the direct protective effect of 13 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV) against invasive pneumococcal pneumonia (IPP; including pneumonia and empyema) in children using a nation-wide case-control study across 11 paediatric tertiary hospitals in Australia.
Tick-borne diseases are a growing global health concern. Despite extensive studies, ill-defined tick-associated pathologies remain with unknown aetiologies. Human immunological responses after tick bite, and inter-individual variations of immune-response phenotypes, are not well characterised.
An effective disease surveillance system is critical for early detection and response to disease epidemics. This study aimed to assess the capacity to manage and utilize disease surveillance data and implement an intervention to improve data analysis and use at the district level in Tanzania.
In children, chronic wet cough may be a sign of underlying lung disease, including protracted bacterial bronchitis (PBB) and bronchiectasis. Chronic (> 4 weeks in duration) wet cough (without indicators pointing to alternative causes) that responds to antibiotic treatment is diagnostic of PBB. Timely recognition and management of PBB can prevent disease progression to irreversible bronchiectasis with lifelong consequences. However, detection and management require timely health-seeking by carers and effective management by clinicians.
Persistent respiratory bacterial infections are a clinical burden in several chronic inflammatory airway diseases and are often associated with neutrophil infiltration into the lungs. Following recruitment, dysregulated neutrophil effector functions such as increased granule release and formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) result in damage to airway tissue, contributing to the progression of lung disease.
Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance continues globally as part of the World Health Organization's goal to eradicate poliomyelitis. The Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit, Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance network, and National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory collaborate in AFP surveillance in Australia, capturing and reviewing cases of AFP for all aetiologies in order to exclude poliovirus. We aimed to describe the AFP epidemiology in childhood over an 11 year period.
The most recent global estimates of the number of pregnancies at risk of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria infection are from 2007. To inform global malaria prevention and control efforts, we aimed to estimate the global distribution of pregnancies at risk of malaria infection from 2007 to 2020.
Against a backdrop ofwidespread global transmission, a number of countries have successfully brought large outbreaks of COVID-19 under control and maintained near-elimination status. A key element of epidemic response is the tracking of disease transmissibility in near real-time. During major out-breaks, the effective reproduction number can be estimated froma time-series of case, hospitalisation or death counts. In low or zero incidence settings, knowing the potential for the virus to spread is a response priority.