Reports and Findings
Meningitis remains the leading infectious cause of neurological disabilities globally, disproportionately affecting children younger than 5 years and populations in the African meningitis belt. Whereas previous global estimates focused on ten pathogen categories, this study presents the most comprehensive analysis to date, assessing the meningitis burden attributable to 17 causative pathogens based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2023 framework.
Paediatric burn injuries are a global health concern with long-term health consequences, such as psychological, immune, and cardiovascular complications, that can persist even after non-severe injuries. Emerging evidence suggests that biological sex may influence post-burn outcomes in children, as female burn survivors have been shown to experience higher mortality, scarring, anxiety, depression, and poorer quality of life compared to males.
This is the first update of a Cochrane review published in 2020. Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), sometimes referred to as chronic otitis media, is a chronic inflammation and often polymicrobial infection of the middle ear and mastoid cavity, characterised by ear discharge (otorrhoea) through a perforated tympanic membrane. The predominant symptoms of CSOM are ear discharge and hearing loss. Aural toileting describes processes for manually cleaning the ear, including dry mopping (with cotton wool or tissue paper), suction clearance (typically under a microscope), or irrigation (using manual or automated syringing). Aural toileting can be used alone or in addition to other treatments for CSOM, such as antibiotics or topical antiseptics. This is one of a suite of seven Cochrane reviews evaluating the effects of non-surgical interventions for CSOM.
This unprecedented longitudinal twin study focused on the arc of language acquisition from first words to adolescence, with data collection at 2, 4, and 6 years of age, reported in four previous studies and now new data at ages 9 and 14 years.
Many children and their families, especially those from priority populations, experience barriers to accessing high-quality early childhood health, education, social and legal services. Further, these families are often under-represented in service planning and research; hence innovations are not designed to meet their needs. Our aim is to codesign with families and the wider community, a Strength-based, Tiered, Accessible Resources and Supports for Kids (STARS for Kids) programme to optimise child development, parental mental well-being, and family psychosocial needs in the first 2000 days from pregnancy to start of school
Rhinoviruses (RV) are the most common respiratory viruses globally and a major cause of airway symptoms in children and individuals with asthma. Although more than 170 RV types exist across 3 species (RV-A, RV-B, RV-C), type-specific circulation patterns and age-related prevalence remain poorly defined.
Despite the well-documented benefits of exercise for adolescents’ physical and mental health, exercise remains an underutilized strategy for improving the health of trans adolescents. This is notable because, compared to their cisgender peers, trans adolescents experience greater health challenges and systemic barriers to being physically active. To date, no research has evaluated an evidence-based exercise service within specialist paediatric gender services in Australia.
This convergent parallel mixed methods study examined the role of protective factors (resilience, family functioning, and social support) in explaining sibling well-being, alongside this population's support preferences and experiences.
he increasing adoption of high-throughput "omics" technologies has heightened the demand for standardized, scalable, and reproducible bioinformatics workflows. Nextflow and nf-core provide a robust framework for researchers, particularly early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs), to navigate complex data analysis.
The overarching purpose of this research is to tackle a pressing public health challenge: the declining rates of physical activity among children and their increasing reliance on private vehicles for the daily school commute.
Automated insulin delivery (AID) improves glycemia in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, concern remains about early worsening of diabetic retinopathy (EWDR) following rapid and large glycemic improvements. This study evaluated diabetic retinopathy (DR) outcomes in adolescents and young adults with T1D (aged 10-30 years) following AID initiation.
Digital interventions have emerged as promising tools to support mental well-being in diabetes. This review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of digital health interventions in improving mental health outcomes among adults with diabetes, as well as assess the methodological quality of relevant studies and provide a commentary on research gaps and future directions.
Citation: Edelman A, Moore S, DeMasi K, Stephens DM, et al. The Time to Act Is Now: Strengthening Health Systems Research Capacity, Capability and Knowledge Translation in Remote Australia. Austr J Rural Health. 2026;34(3). Keywords: Capacity
Climate change is both an environmental crisis and a growing source of psychological distress for young people, calling for responses that nurture emotional resilience and collective engagement. The emerging response to climate distress has mainly focused on formal psychological and individual-level interventions.
Neonatal sepsis-induced cardiovascular dysfunction includes impaired myocardial function (which may be systolic and/or diastolic) and vasoregulatory failure (which may lead to vasodilation or vasoconstriction). The haemodynamic response in neonatal sepsis may therefore be hyperdynamic or hypodynamic, and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are heterogenous.
Leadership in paediatric anaesthesia is undergoing rapid transformation as clinical complexity, workforce expectations, and organizational structures evolve. This review synthesizes recent developments and highlights the competencies required for effective leadership in this high-stakes specialty.
Respiratory disease is a leading cause of hospitalisations in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Over 40% of individuals with CP are born preterm; however, the relationship between prematurity, CP and respiratory disease is unknown.
Current methods for assessing the healthfulness of 24-hour movement behaviours (sleep, sedentary time, light physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity) use binary classifications that fail to capture their continuous and compositional nature. This study introduces a percentile-based scoring and visualization approach to evaluate the healthfulness of movement behaviour time-use compositions, using social-emotional development in early childhood as an example.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant cause of respiratory infections in young children. Since 2021, RSV has been a notifiable disease in Australia. However, current surveillance systems focus on hospitalised RSV, with limited surveillance at a community level through primary care clinics. This approach only captures RSV requiring hospitalisation. Less severe illnesses, while not captured, may have significant social and economic impacts including the associated cost of care and absenteeism. The aim of this study is to establish an understanding of the broader burden of RSV in young children in a community setting.