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Research

Results from recent clinical studies suggest potential efficacy of immune training (IT)-based approaches for protection against severe lower respiratory tract infections in infants, but underlying mechanisms are unclear.

Research

Clinical studies supported by immunological data indicate early life intervention strategies to be promising in reducing the growing global burden of food allergies. The events that predispose to food allergy, including the induction of allergen-specific immune responses, appear to be initiated early in development.

Research

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) collection is a non-invasive, safe method for measurement of biomarkers in patients with lung disease. Other methods of obtaining samples from the lungs, such as bronchoalveolar lavage, are invasive and require anaesthesia/sedation in neonates and infants. EBC is particularly appealing for assessing biomarkers in preterm-born infants, a population at risk of ongoing lung disease.

Research

Acute leukaemia is the most common childhood malignancy. Almost all cases are classified as acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or acute myeloid leukaemia. Acute leukaemia of ambiguous lineage (ALAL) is a rare form of acute leukaemia that cannot be classified by a single lineage. Like other acute leukaemias, ALAL typically presents with nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, fever, or bleeding.

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Although preterm birth is associated with later deficits in lung function, there is a paucity of information on geographical differences and whether improvements occur over time, especially after surfactant was introduced.

Research

Pregnant women are recognised as being at risk of serious illness from influenza. Despite this, and longstanding national recommendations for vaccination in pregnancy, vaccine uptake remains suboptimal. This study aims to determine factors associated with women declining influenza vaccination in pregnancy.

Research

Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) demonstrate heterogeneity in clinical profiles and outcome features. However, the extent of neuroanatomical heterogeneity in the CHR-P state is largely undetermined.

Research

Summarising the current knowledge of Strep A transmission to humans will address gaps in the evidence and inform prevention and control strategies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the modes of transmission and attack rates of group A streptococcal infection in human populations.

Research

Over 5 days, 120 schoolchildren from two schools in the remote Kimberley region of Australia were screened for Strep A pharyngitis. Molecular point-of-care testing identified Strep A pharyngitis in 13/18 (72.2%) symptomatic children. The portability and feasibility of molecular point-of-care testing was highly practical for remote settings.

Research

Exome sequencing has enabled molecular diagnoses for rare disease patients but often with initial diagnostic rates of ~25-30%. Here we develop a robust computational pipeline to rank variants for reassessment of unsolved rare disease patients. A comprehensive web-based patient report is generated in which all deleterious variants can be filtered by gene, variant characteristics, OMIM disease and Phenolyzer scores, and all are annotated with an ACMG classification and links to ClinVar.