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Peter Richmond MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP Head, Vaccine Trials Group Head, Vaccine Trials Group Professor Peter Richmond is Head of the Vaccine Trials Group
Advances in understanding bacterial dynamics in the upper airway microbiome are driving development of microbiota-modifying therapies to prevent or treat disease
Preterm infants are particularly susceptible to bacterial late-onset sepsis (LOS). Diagnosis by blood culture and inflammatory markers have sub-optimal sensitivity and specificity and prolonged reporting times. There is an urgent need for more rapid, accurate adjunctive diagnostics in LOS to improve management and minimise antibiotic exposure.
Otitis media (OM; middle ear infection) is the most common reason for pre-school children to visit a doctor, be prescribed antimicrobials, or undergo surgery. Recent Cochrane reviews of clinical trials have identified that antibiotics and grommet surgery are only moderately effective in treating OM, with recurrent or persistent infection observed in one-third of children. Research efforts are focusing on developing improved therapies to treat OM and prevent disease recurrence.
Combining elevated CRP with the presence or absence of clinical signs/ symptoms differentiates definite bacterial from presumed viral pneumonia better than CRP alone
Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common infections in young children, arising from bacterial and/or viral infection of the middle ear. Globally, Streptococcus pneumoniae and non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are the predominant bacterial otopathogens. Importantly, common upper respiratory viruses are increasingly recognized contributors to the polymicrobial pathogenesis of OM.
Children in low-mid income countries, and First Nations children in high-income countries, experience disproportionately high rates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae infections and diseases including pneumonia and otitis media.
Pneumonia is the leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally.
PPV is immunogenic in 9-month-old children at high risk of pneumococcal infections and does not affect the capacity to produce protective immune responses
decreased serum IgG responses to NTHi outer membrane proteins may contribute to the development of chronic and severe OM in Australian Aboriginal children