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Leading paediatrician, infectious diseases specialist and Executive Director of The Kids Research Institute Australia, Professor Jonathan Carapetis, has been recognised for his significant contribution towards medical research with the award of Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is the most common form of acquired heart disease worldwide. In RHD, volume loading from mitral regurgitation leads to left ventricular (LV) dilatation, increased wall stress, and ultimately LV dysfunction. Improved understanding of LV dynamics may contribute to refined timing of intervention.
In remote communities of northern Australia, First Nations children with hearing loss are disproportionately at risk of poor school readiness and performance compared to their peers with no hearing loss. The aim of this trial is to prevent early childhood persisting otitis media (OM), associated hearing loss and developmental delay.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to MDR organisms are increasingly common. The lack of paediatric data on efficacious antibiotics makes UTI treatment particularly challenging. Data on the efficacy of fosfomycin use for UTI in children are variable.
Regular intramuscular (i.m.) benzathine penicillin G (BPG) injections have been the cornerstone of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) secondary prophylaxis since the 1950s. Patient adherence to IM BPG is poor, largely due to pain, the need for regular injections every 3-4 weeks and health sector delivery challenges in resource-limited settings. There is an urgent need for new approaches for secondary prophylaxis, such as an implant which could provide sustained penicillin concentrations for more than 6 months.
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is responsible for a significant burden of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and remains the most common cause of acquired heart disease among children and young adults in low-income and middle-income countries. Additionally, the global COVID-19 pandemic has forced the emergency restructuring of many health systems, which has had a broad impact on health in general, including cardiovascular disease.
Described antimicrobial resistance mechanisms enable bacteria to avoid the direct effects of antibiotics and can be monitored by in vitro susceptibility testing and genetic methods. Here we describe a mechanism of sulfamethoxazole resistance that requires a host metabolite for activity.
Bacterial skin infections and scabies disproportionately affect children in resource-poor countries as well as underprivileged children in high-income countries. Atopic dermatitis is a common childhood dermatosis that predisposes to bacterial skin infection.
Environmental factors including household crowding and inadequate washing facilities underpin recurrent streptococcal infections in childhood that cause acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and subsequent rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
Indigenous children in colonised nations experience high rates of health disparities linked to historical trauma resulting from displacement and dispossession, as well as ongoing systemic racism. Skin infections and their complications are one such health inequity, with the highest global burden described in remote-living Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter respectfully referred to as Aboriginal) children. Yet despite increasing urbanisation, little is known about the skin infection burden for urban-living Aboriginal children.