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Head, Infectious Diseases Research

Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) causes a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from pharyngitis and impetigo to severe invasive infections and immune-mediated conditions such as acute rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. Contemporary data on the global burden of Strep A diseases are lacking.

There are 117.3 million people forcibly displaced because of war, conflict and natural disasters: 40% are children. With growing numbers, many high-income countries have adopted or are considering increasingly restrictive policies of immigration detention. Research on the impact of detention on mental health has focused on adults, although recent studies report on children. 

The abstract screening process of systematic reviews can take thousands of hours by two researchers. We aim to determine the reliability and validity of Research Screener, a semi-automated abstract screening tool within a systematic review on non-specific and broader effects of respiratory vaccines on acute lower respiratory infection hospitalisations and antimicrobial prescribing patterns in young children.

Obesity was a risk factor for severe COVID-19 in children during early outbreaks of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and the Delta variant. However, the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity during the Omicron wave remains unclear.

Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to children's health, with up to 20% of 1.27 million deaths attributable to bacterial AMR annually, occurring in children <5 years. The WHO 2024 Bacterial Priority Pathogens List identifies methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE) as critical pathogens. This review examines the epidemiology, treatment recommendations, dosing strategies, efficacy, and safety data for antibiotics targeting MRSA and VRE infections in children in Oceania.

In 2024, the government of Western Australia introduced 'nirsevimab', a monoclonal antibody offering protection from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), for eligible infants. This study explores why parents of infants who were eligible to receive nirsevimab opted to decline or delay the immunisation.

Hepatitis B (HBV) prevalence is very high in pregnant women in the Dolpa district of Nepal, a region characterised by a remote geographic landscape and low vaccination coverage. Using mathematical modelling, we evaluated the impact of third-trimester tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) prophylaxis on HBV burden and estimated the time required to achieve HBV elimination in Dolpa. 

Gram-negative bacterial infections remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and neonates globally, compounded by the rise of antimicrobial resistance. Barriers to paediatric antibiotic licencing lead to reduced availability of potentially effective agents for treatment. For children and neonates in the Oceania region, specific challenges remain including a paucity of surveillance data on local rates of antimicrobial resistance, and lack of availability of newer, more costly agents.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection with a higher burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and children. We conducted a pilot qualitative study identifying disease knowledge and willingness to immunise following the changing immunisation landscape for infant RSV in 2024.