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The eradication of rubella in Australia is evidence of the vital role vaccinations play in protecting our health, researchers at The Kids Research Institute Australia say.
Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia and Curtin University will use a $3.9 million grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council to investigate whether a type of whooping cough vaccine could provide bonus protection against food allergies and eczema.
The major funder of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases based at The Kids Research Institute Australia has been recognised as Australia’s most generous giver.
Australia’s first needle-free, gene-based COVID-19 vaccine study will be spear-headed in WA by The Kids Research Institute Australia thanks to almost $6 million in Coronavirus Research Response funding announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt.
One of Australia’s leading infectious disease experts, Associate Professor Asha Bowen, has been announced as a finalist for the country’s leading national science awards – the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.
Influenza and COVID-19 infections during pregnancy may have serious adverse consequences for women as well as their infants. However, uptake of influenza and COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy remains suboptimal. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a multi-component nudge intervention to improve influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake among pregnant women.
Vaccination in pregnancy is the best strategy to reduce complications from influenza or pertussis infection in infants who are too young to be protected directly from vaccination. Pregnant women are also at risk of influenza complications preventable through antenatal vaccination. Both vaccines are funded under the National Immunisation Program for pregnant women in Australia, but coverage is not routinely reported nationally.
To evaluate the effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination for preventing pertussis infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants under seven months of age.
As COVID-19 vaccinations rolled out globally from late 2020, rules and recommendations regarding vaccine use in pregnancy shifted rapidly. Pre-registration COVID-19 vaccine trials excluded those who were pregnant. Initial Australian medical advice did not routinely recommend COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy, due to limited safety data and little perceived risk of local transmission.
As herpes simplex virus in infancy is not a mandatory notifiable condition in Australia, completeness of ascertainment by the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (APSU) has been difficult to evaluate to date. We evaluated case capture in Queensland and Western Australia using statewide laboratory and clinical data and complementary surveillance data collected via the APSU.