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DNA methylation and body mass index from birth to adolescence: meta-analyses of epigenome-wide association studies

DNA methylation has been shown to be associated with adiposity in adulthood. However, whether similar DNA methylation patterns are associated with childhood and adolescent body mass index (BMI) is largely unknown. More insight into this relationship at younger ages may have implications for future prevention of obesity and its related traits. We examined whether DNA methylation in cord blood and whole blood in childhood and adolescence was associated with BMI in the age range from 2 to 18 years using both cross-sectional and longitudinal models.

Suicide by young Australians, 2006-2015: a cross-sectional analysis of national coronial data

Objective: To assess the demographic, social, and clinical characteristics of young Australians who die by suicide.

Prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in a nationally representative sample of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults

Vitamin D deficiency (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration <50 nmol/l) is recognised as a public health problem globally. The present study details the prevalence and predictors of vitamin D deficiency in a nationally representative sample (n 3250) of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged ≥18 years. We used data from the 2012-2013 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (AATSIHS). Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem MS.

Do rapid diagnostic methods improve antibiotic prescribing in paediatric bacteraemia?

Rapid blood culture pathogen identification facilitated by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight and GeneXpert has the potential to improve antibiotic prescribing. This study investigates the impact of these rapid diagnostics on the timeliness of effective and optimal antibiotic prescribing in paediatric patients with bacteraemia.

Predictors of hospital readmission in infants less than 3 months old

To examine rates and predictors of 7-day readmission in infants hospitalised before 3 months of age with infectious and non-infectious conditions. A retrospective population-based data-linkage study of 121 854 infants from a 5-year metropolitan birth cohort (2008-2012). Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine associations between infant and maternal factors with 7-day readmission.

Outcomes and endpoints reported in studies of pulmonary exacerbations in people with cystic fibrosis: A systematic review

There is no consensus about which outcomes should be evaluated in studies of pulmonary exacerbations in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Outcomes used for evaluation should be meaningful; that is, they should capture how people feel, function or survive and be acknowledged as important to people with CF, or should be reliable surrogates of those outcomes. We aimed to summarise the outcomes and corresponding endpoints which have been reported in studies of pulmonary exacerbations, and to identify those which are most likely to be meaningful.

Keeping your kids moving during WA’s hard lockdown

Western Australia’s sudden hard lockdown came without warning and unlike when COVID-19 first kept us at home last year, there are now rules on how long we can spend exercising outside.

New project to boost global fight against malaria

Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University are excited to be part of a new US$30 million global project to fight malaria.

Population data could be key to controlling a future COVID outbreak in WA

Perth researchers will use population data to help boost WA’s defences in the fight against COVID-19, developing modelling to build a clearer picture of how the virus could spread through high-risk populations.

The economic and health burdens of diseases caused by group A Streptococcus in New Zealand

In preparation for the future arrival of a group A Streptococcus (GAS) vaccine, this study estimated the economic and health burdens of GAS diseases in New Zealand. The annual incidence of GAS diseases was based on extrapolation of the average number of primary healthcare episodes managed each year in general practices (2014-2016) and on the average number of hospitalizations occurring each year (2005-2014). Disease incidence was multiplied by the average cost of diagnosing and managing an episode of disease at each level of care to estimate the annual economic burden.