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Chris Brennan-Jones PhD Head, Ear and Hearing Health chris.brennan-jones@thekids.org.au Head, Ear and Hearing Health Professor Chris Brennan-Jones is
Chris Deborah Peter Tanisha Greta Karina Brennan-Jones Lehmann Richmond Cayley Bernabei Tao PhD AO, MBBS, MSc MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP BBiomed (Hons) BSc
Deborah Peter Lehmann Richmond AO, MBBS, MSc MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP Honorary Emeritus Fellow Head, Vaccine Trials Group Honorary Emeritus Fellow Head,
Honorary Emeritus Fellow
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a key contributor to childhood morbidity and mortality in Papua New Guinea (PNG). For the first time, whole genome sequencing of 174 isolates has enabled detailed characterisation of diverse S. pneumoniae causing invasive disease in young children in PNG, 1989-2014.
A $6 million commitment from Wesfarmers to Telethon will fund vital research to reduce the impact of chronic ear infections and other serious diseases.
The Ear and Hearing Health team's vision is all children start primary school with good hearing.
A new partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Dr George Sim and St John of God Murdoch Hospital will offer essential surgery at no cost for a group of Aboriginal children suffering severe ear infections.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2014, with administration at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. PCV13 has reduced or eliminated carriage of vaccine types in populations with low pneumococcal carriage prevalence, carriage density and serotype diversity.
Globally, Indigenous populations have been disproportionately impacted by pandemics. In Australia, though national infection rates with COVID-19 infections in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were lower in the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was soon a greater burden in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island people once Omicron was circulating. Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine was also lower among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.