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Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group (BRIDG)

The Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group (BRIDG) has a major focus ear and lung disease involving Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae.

Research

The Platform trial In COVID-19 vaccine priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO) booster vaccination substudy protocol

Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in Australia commenced in February 2021. The first vaccines recommended for use were AZD1222 and BNT162b2, both delivered as a two-dose primary schedule. In the absence of sustained immunity following immunisation, recommendations for booster vaccination have followed. It is likely that periodic boosting will be necessary for at least some Australians, but it is unknown what the optimal booster vaccines and schedules are or for whom vaccination should be recommended. 

People

Associate Professor Lea-Ann Kirkham

Co-Head, Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group; Microbiology Lead, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases

Research

Clinical predictors of hypoxic pneumonia in children from the Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea: secondary analysis of two prospective observational studies

Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in young children globally and is prevalent in the Papua New Guinea highlands. We investigated clinical predictors of hypoxic pneumonia to inform local treatment guidelines in this resource-limited setting.

People

Dr Ruth Thornton

Co-head, Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group (BRIDG)

Research

Evaluation of a bacterial therapy for prevention of respiratory infection including influenza and otitis media

Deborah Lea-Ann Peter Ruth Strickland Kirkham Richmond Thornton PhD PhD MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP PhD Program Head, Immunobiology and Immunotherapeutic

Research

among children with pneumonia using a causal Bayesian network

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.

Research

Bacterial Reservoirs in the Middle Ear of Otitis-prone Children Are Associated With Repeat Ventilation Tube Insertion

Presence of bacterial otopathogen in the middle ear during ventilation tube insertion was a predictor of children at-risk of repeat ventilation tube insertion