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Research

Vaccination is the most effective method of protecting people from invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Of all the capsular groups, B is the most common cause of invasive meningococcal disease in many parts of the world. Despite this, adolescent meningococcal B vaccine programs have not been implemented globally, partly due to the lack of evidence for herd immunity afforded by meningococcal B vaccines.

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The P3-MumBubVax intervention is feasible and acceptable in the Australian public antenatal setting

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No new safety concerns were identified for live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in this study based on a novel, Australian primary care data source

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Benzathine penicillin G has been used as monthly deep intramuscular (IM) injections since the 1950s for secondary prevention of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Injection frequency and pain are major programmatic barriers for adherence, prompting calls for development of better long-acting penicillin preparations to prevent RHD.

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Australian infants who received whole-cell pertussis vaccines were less likely to be diagnosed with food allergy in childhood

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A widespread G2P[4] rotavirus epidemic in rural and remote Australia provided an opportunity to evaluate the performance of Rotarix and RotaTeq rotavirus vaccines, ten years after their incorporation into Australia's National Immunisation Program.

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A multi-country randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) F-protein nanoparticle vaccine was undertaken in 4,636 pregnant women and their infants. RSV F-protein vaccine was safe and immunogenic in the pregnant women inducing anti-F IgG, palivizumab-competing antibodies and RSV neutralizing antibodies that were transferred to the fetus.

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Our aim is to ascertain predictors of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) uptake in pregnancy in mother-infant pairs from six Australian sites over four consecutive influenza seasons (2012-2015).

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As the rise in prevalence of allergic diseases worldwide corresponds in time with increasing infant vaccination, it has been hypothesized that childhood vaccination may increase the risk of allergic disease. We aimed to synthesize the literature on the association between childhood vaccination and allergy.

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There remains a general misconception that the immune status of the fetus and neonate is immature or insufficient. However, emerging research in immune ontogeny prompts reconsideration of this orthodoxy, reframing this period instead as one of unique opportunity. Vaccine responses (qualitative and quantitative) vary between individuals, and across demographic cohorts. Elements of baseline immune status and function predict vaccine response - some of these factors are well described, others remain a subject of ongoing research, especially with the rapidly expanding field of 'omics' research, enabled by development of highly granular immune profiling techniques and increasing computational capacity.