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Research

Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.

Research

The physical health comorbidities and premature mortality experienced by people with mental illness has led to an increase in exercise services embedded as part of standard care in hospital-based mental health services. Despite the increase in access to exercise services for people experiencing mental illness, there is currently a lack of guidelines on the assessment and triage of patients into exercise therapy.

Research

Understanding of newborn immune ontogeny in the first week of life will enable age-appropriate strategies for safeguarding vulnerable newborns against infectious diseases. Here we conducted an observational study exploring the immunological profile of infants longitudinally throughout their first week of life. 

Research

One third of Australian children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes present with life-threatening diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at diagnosis. Screening for early-stage, presymptomatic type 1 diabetes, with ongoing follow-up, can substantially reduce this risk (<5% risk). Several screening models are being trialled internationally, without consensus on the optimal approach. This pilot study aims to assess three models for a routine, population-wide screening programme in Australia.

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Pregnancy is an opportunistic time for dietary intake to influence future disease susceptibility in offspring later in life. The ORIGINS Project was established to identify the factors that contribute to 'a healthy start to life' through a focus supporting childhood health and preventing disease (including non-communicable diseases).

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Oral liquid prednisolone medications have poor acceptance among paediatric patients due to ineffective masking of the bitterness taste of prednisolone. This study aimed to develop a child-friendly prednisolone tablet using a patented chewable chocolate-based delivery system previously applied successfully to mask the bitterness tastes of midazolam and tramadol.

Research

Quantifying stroke incidence and mortality is crucial for disease surveillance and health system planning. Administrative data offer a cost-effective alternative to "gold standard" population-based studies. However, the optimal methodology for establishing stroke deaths from administrative data remains unclear.  

Research

To effectively inform infectious disease control strategies, accurate knowledge of the pathogen's transmission dynamics is required. Since the timings of infections are rarely known, estimates of the infection incidence, which is crucial for understanding the transmission dynamics, often rely on measurements of other quantities amenable to surveillance.

Research

Despite vaccination, influenza and otitis media (OM) remain leading causes of illness. We previously found that the human respiratory commensal Haemophilus haemolyticus prevents bacterial infection in vitro and that the related murine commensal Muribacter muris delays OM development in mice. The observation that M muris pretreatment reduced lung influenza titer and inflammation suggests that these bacteria could be exploited for protection against influenza/OM.

Research

Copy number alterations (CNAs), resulting from the gain or loss of genetic material from as little as 50 base pairs or as big as entire chromosome(s), have been associated with many congenital diseases, de novo syndromes and cancer. It is established that CNAs disturb the dosage of genomic regions including enhancers/promoters, long non-coding RNA and gene(s) among others, ultimately leading to an altered balance of key cellular functions.