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Bringing optimised coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine schedules to immunocompromised populations (BOOST-IC) is a multi-site, adaptive platform trial designed to assess the effect of different booster vaccination schedules in the Australian immunocompromised population on the immunogenicity, safety and cross-protection against COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants.
Estimating the temporal trends in infectious disease activity is crucial for monitoring disease spread and the impact of interventions. Surveillance indicators routinely collected to monitor these trends are often a composite of multiple pathogens. For example, "influenza-like illness"-routinely monitored as a proxy for influenza infections-is a symptom definition that could be caused by a wide range of pathogens, including multiple subtypes of influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV.
The use of adjunctive antibiotics directed against exotoxin production in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is widespread, and is recommended in many guidelines, but there is limited evidence underpinning this.
The ability for vaccines to protect against infectious diseases varies among individuals, but computational models employed to inform policy typically do not account for this variation. Here we examine this issue: we implement a model of vaccine efficacy developed in the context of SARS-CoV-2 in order to evaluate the general implications of modelling correlates of protection on the individual level.
The estimated effectiveness of SMS (short message service) reminders for improving childhood vaccine coverage and timeliness has varied in previous studies. The observed heterogeneity in effectiveness may be explained in part by variation in reminder content or timing of the reminder relative to the vaccine schedule date. We sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a range of SMS reminders of varied content and timing for improving on-time childhood vaccination.
Group A streptococcus (GAS) infections, such as pharyngitis and impetigo, can lead to rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations experience high rates of RHD and GAS skin infection, yet rates of GAS pharyngitis are unclear.
In many countries, infant vaccination with acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines has replaced use of more reactogenic whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccines. Based on immunological and epidemiological evidence, we hypothesised that substituting the first aP dose in the routine vaccination schedule with wP vaccine might protect against IgE-mediated food allergy. We aimed to compare reactogenicity, immunogenicity, and IgE-mediated responses of a mixed wP/aP primary schedule versus the standard aP-only schedule.
Despite universal access to government-funded direct-acting antivirals in 2016, the rate of hepatitis C treatment uptake in Australia has declined substantially. Most hepatitis C is related to injecting drug use; reducing the hepatitis C burden among people who inject drugs is, therefore, paramount to reach hepatitis C elimination targets.
Untreated hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can result in cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies are highly effective and have few side effects compared to older interferon-based therapy. Despite the Australian government providing subsidised and unrestricted access to DAA therapy for chronic HCV infection, uptake has not been sufficient to meet the global target of eliminating HCV as a public health threat by 2030.
Despite recent improvements in treatment modalities for cystic fibrosis (CF), there is currently limited evidence and a lack of consensus regarding optimal treatment strategies for the different aspects of CF, including pulmonary exacerbations (PEx). We aimed to establish a prospective cohort of people with CF (pwCF) to evaluate alternative approaches to managing CF in the era of modulator therapies.