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Research

Off-target effects of bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccination on immune responses to SARS-CoV-2: implications for protection against severe COVID-19

Because of its beneficial off-target effects against non-mycobacterial infectious diseases, bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination might be an accessible early intervention to boost protection against novel pathogens. Multiple epidemiological studies and randomised controlled trials are investigating the protective effect of BCG against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

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Improving Vaccine-Induced Immunity: Can Baseline Predict Outcome?

Baseline signatures might contribute to identifying interventional targets to be modulated prior to vaccination in order to improve vaccination responses

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Influenza vaccination in pregnancy among a group of remote dwelling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers in the Northern Territory

We examined uptake of inactivated influenza vaccination in pregnancy and report adverse birth outcomes amongst a predominantly unvaccinated group

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Links2HealthierBubs' cohort study: Protocol for a study on the safety, uptake and effectiveness of influenza and pertussis vaccines among pregnant Australian women

Multi-jurisdictional cohort of mother-infant pairs to measure the uptake, safety and effectiveness of antenatal IIV and dTpa vaccines in three Australian jurisdictions

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The impact of new universal child influenza programs in Australia: Vaccine coverage, effectiveness and disease epidemiology in hospitalised children in 2018

A significant reduction in severe influenza was observed in Australian children, possibly contributed to by improved vaccine coverage and high vaccine effectiveness

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SMS-based interventions for improving child and adolescent vaccine coverage and timeliness: a systematic review

The aim of this review was to investigate the impact of short message service (SMS)-based interventions on childhood and adolescent vaccine coverage and timeliness. 

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B cell epitope mapping: The journey to better vaccines and therapeutic antibodies

B-cell epitope mapping is an approach that can identify and characterise specific antigen binding sites of B-cell receptors and secreted antibodies. The ability to determine the antigenic clusters of amino acids bound by B-cell clones provides unprecedented detail that will aid in developing novel and effective vaccine targets and therapeutic antibodies for various diseases.

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Inequity of antenatal influenza and pertussis vaccine coverage in Australia: the Links2HealthierBubs record linkage cohort study, 2012–2017

Pregnancy and early infancy are increased risk periods for severe adverse effects of respiratory infections. Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (respectfully referred to as First Nations) women and children in Australia bear a disproportionately higher burden of respiratory diseases compared to non-Indigenous women and infants. Influenza vaccines and whooping cough (pertussis) vaccines are recommended and free in every Australian pregnancy to combat these infections.

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Adverse event reports of anaphylaxis after Comirnaty and Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccinations, Western Australia, 22 February to 30 June 2021

Within the first 4 months of the Western Australian COVID-19 immunisation programme, 49 suspected anaphylaxis cases were reported to the vaccine safety surveillance system. Twelve reports met Brighton Collaboration case definition, corresponding to rates of 15.9 and 17.7 per million doses of Vaxzevria and Comirnaty administered respectively.

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Immunisation with the BCG and DTPw vaccines induces different programs of trained immunity in mice

In addition to providing pathogen-specific immunity, vaccines can also confer nonspecific effects (NSEs) on mortality and morbidity unrelated to the targeted disease. Immunisation with live vaccines, such as the BCG vaccine, has generally been associated with significantly reduced all-cause infant mortality. In contrast, some inactivated vaccines, such as the diphtheria, tetanus, whole-cell pertussis (DTPw) vaccine, have been controversially associated with increased all-cause mortality especially in female infants in high-mortality settings.