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Examining prescribing, timeliness and data recording of immunisations onto a national electronic immunisation register for inpatients at a tertiary paediatric hospitalThe aim of this study was to investigate the quality and adherence of inpatient immunisation prescribing, as well as timeliness and recording of immunisations onto the national immunisation register, within a tertiary paediatric hospital setting. We conducted an observational, retrospective review of inpatient immunisations at Perth Children’s Hospital from July 2018 to February 2019.
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BCG vaccination to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in healthcare workers: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial (BRACE trial)BCG vaccination modulates immune responses to unrelated pathogens. This off-target effect could reduce the impact of emerging pathogens. As a readily available, inexpensive intervention that has a well-established safety profile, BCG is a good candidate for protecting healthcare workers (HCWs) and other vulnerable groups against COVID-19.
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COVID-19 in children: I. Epidemiology, prevention and indirect impactsChildren globally have been profoundly impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This review explores the direct and indirect public health impacts of COVID-19 on children. We discuss in detail the transmission dynamics, vaccination strategies and, importantly, the ‘shadow pandemic’, encompassing underappreciated indirect impacts of the pandemic on children.
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Influenza hospitalizations in Australian children 2010–2019: The impact of medical comorbidities on outcomes, vaccine coverage, and effectivenessChildren with comorbidities are at greater risk of severe influenza outcomes compared with healthy children. In Australia, influenza vaccination was funded for those with comorbidities from 2010 and all children aged <5 years from 2018. Influenza vaccine coverage remains inadequate in children with and without comorbidities.
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Association between vaccination status, symptom identification and healthcare use: Implications for test negative design observational studiesTo test the internal validity of the test-negative design (TND) by investigating associations between maternal influenza vaccination, and new virus detection episodes (VDEs), acute respiratory illness, and healthcare visits in their children.
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COVID-19 and changes in the National Immunisation Program: a unique opportunity to optimise the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)Christopher Blyth MBBS (Hons) DCH FRACP FRCPA PhD Centre Head, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases; Co-Head, Infectious Diseases
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Variants of Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 14 from Papua New Guinea with the Potential to Be Mistyped and Escape Vaccine-Induced ProtectionStreptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a human pathogen of global importance, classified into serotypes based on the type of capsular polysaccharide produced. Serotyping of pneumococci is essential for disease surveillance and vaccine impact measurement.
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Association between pertussis vaccination in infancy and childhood asthma: A population-based record linkage cohort studyAsthma is among the commonest noncommunicable diseases of childhood and often occurs with other atopic comorbidities. A previous case-control study found evidence that compared to children who received acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines in early infancy, children who received one or more doses of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine had lower risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergy. We hypothesized that wP vaccination in early infancy might protect against atopic asthma in childhood.
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Superior immunogenicity of mRNA over adenoviral vectored COVID-19 vaccines reflects B cell dynamics independent of anti-vector immunity: Implications for future pandemic vaccinesBoth vector and mRNA vaccines were an important part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and may be required in future outbreaks and pandemics. The aim of this study was to validate whether immunogenicity differs for adenoviral vectored (AdV) versus mRNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, and to investigate how anti-vector immunity and B cell dynamics modulate immunogenicity.
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B cell epitope mapping: The journey to better vaccines and therapeutic antibodiesB-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.