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Four BrightSpark Fellowships awarded to early-career researchers at The KidsCongratulations to four outstanding early-career researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia, who have been awarded BrightSpark Foundation fellowships and project funding for 2026.
News & Events
Whooping cough vaccine could help in the fight against food allergiesA dose of the whooping cough vaccine might reduce cases of childhood food allergies according to latest research by the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases based at The Kids Research Institute Australia.
News & Events
Babies at risk due to delayed vaccinationsAs many as a quarter of Australian babies aren’t getting vaccinated on time, leaving them at risk of developing life-threatening illnesses such as whooping cough when they are most vulnerable.
News & Events
New meningococcal strains bring increased risk in WAA new study has confirmed the changing pattern of meningococcal disease in Western Australia.
News & Events
RSV and influenza detections hit record low levels in 2020Western Australia has experienced historically low levels of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza this winter due to the public health measures implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Research
Respiratory Viral Testing Rate Patterns in Young Children Attending Tertiary Care Across Western Australia: A Population-Based Birth Cohort StudyBelaynew Christopher Peter Hannah Minda Huong Taye Blyth Richmond Moore Sarna Le MD, MPH, PhD MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP OAM
Research
Estimating the impact of Western Australia's first respiratory syncytial virus immunisation program for all infants: A mathematical modelling studyThe Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the use of nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody for the prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), in November 2023. Western Australia (WA) implemented a combination of nirsevimab administration strategies designed to protect all infants starting in April 2024, before the epidemic season. We developed a dynamic transmission model to predict the impact of WA's RSV immunisation program on infant hospitalisations.
Research
Australian Group on Antimicrobial Research surveillance outcome programs - bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance patterns from patients less than 18 years of ageFrom 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021, thirty-eight institutions across Australia submitted data to the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) from patients aged < 18 years (AGAR-Kids). Over the two years, 1,679 isolates were reported from 1,611 patients. This AGAR-Kids report aims to describe the population of children and adolescents with bacteraemia reported to AGAR and the proportion of resistant isolates.
Research
Antimicrobial Resistance in Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates From Bloodstream Infections in Australian Children, 2013–2021Gram-negative bloodstream infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality in children. Increasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is reported globally, yet efforts to track pediatric AMR at a national level over time are lacking.
Research
The Challenge of Diagnosing Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Children: A Review of Existing and Emerging ToolsInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality for immunocompromised children, particularly for patients with acute leukaemia and those undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Timely diagnosis, using a combination of computed tomography (CT) imaging and microbiological testing, is key to improve prognosis, yet there are inherent challenges in this process. For CT imaging, changes in children are generally less specific than those reported in adults and recent data are limited.