Search the site

Immunogenicity, otitis media, hearing impairment, and nasopharyngeal carriage 6-months after 13-valent or ten-valent booster pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, stratified by mixed priming schedules: PREVIX_COMBO and PREVIX_BOOST randomised controlled trials

Australian First Nations children are at very high risk of early, recurrent, and persistent bacterial otitis media and respiratory tract infection. With the PREVIX randomised controlled trials, we aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity of novel pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) schedules.

Australian Aboriginal Otitis-Prone Children Produce High-Quality Serum IgG to Putative Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Vaccine Antigens at Lower Titres Compared to Non-Aboriginal Children

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is the most common bacterial otopathogen associated with otitis media (OM). NTHi persists in biofilms within the middle ears of children with chronic and recurrent OM. Australian Aboriginal children suffer exceptionally high rates of chronic and recurrent OM compared to non-Aboriginal children.

Ear Portal: An urban-based ear, nose, and throat, and audiology referral telehealth portal to improve access to specialist ear-health services for children

Shortage of ear, nose, and throat specialists in public hospitals can result in delays in the detection and management of otitis media. This study introduced a new hospital-based telehealth service, named the Ear Portal, and investigated its role in improving access to specialist care.

Early detection of hearing loss for infants in Western Australia: Comparison to international benchmarks

To assess the degree to which timely audiological assessment of congenital hearing loss is achieved at our institution - Perth Children's Hospital, Western Australia, and to review cases which breached this timeframe in order to address barriers to timely assessment. The benchmark used to determine timely assessment is that set out by The Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH) in which diagnostic audiological testing occurs by three months of age for those who do not pass newborn hearing screening.

Children with secondary care episodes for otitis media have poor literacy and numeracy outcomes: A data linkage study

We examined the association between otitis media and educational attainment in a retrospective population cohort of Western Australian children who participated in the Grade 3 National Assessment Program—Literacy and Numeracy in 2012.

Common and Rare Genetic Variants That Could Contribute to Severe Otitis Media in an Australian Aboriginal Population

Our goal was to identify genetic risk factors for severe otitis media (OM) in Aboriginal Australians.

The reliability of video otoscopy recordings and still images in the asynchronous diagnosis of middle-ear disease

To compare the asynchronous assessment of video otoscopic still images to recordings by an audiologist and ear, nose and throat surgeon (ENT) for diagnostic reliability and agreement in identifying middle-ear disease.

Genetic and functional evidence for a role for SLC11A1 in susceptibility to otitis media in early childhood in a Western Australian population

Otitis media (OM) is a common disease in early childhood characterised by inflammation of the middle ear.

New findings in the pathogenesis of otitis media

This study was the first to concurrently identify middle ear pathogens in both bacterial biofilm and intracellularly in the middle ear mucosa of children and to identify extensive DNA stranding in the MEF from children with AOM

Genome-Wide Association Study to Identify the Genetic Determinants of Otitis Media Susceptibility in Childhood

We identified several novel candidate genes which warrant further analysis in cohorts matched more precisely for clinical phenotypes.