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Glenn Pearson's dream - improving Aboriginal child health

As Head of Aboriginal Research Development at Telethon Kids, Glenn Pearson believes his work brings us closer to identifying the real and whole Australian story

Four BrightSpark Fellowships awarded to early-career researchers at The Kids

Congratulations to four outstanding early-career researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia, who have been awarded BrightSpark Foundation fellowships and project funding for 2026.

Early onset of otitis media is a strong predictor of subsequent disease in urban Aboriginal infants: Djaalinj Waakinj cohort study

Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children in rural/remote areas suffer high rates of persistent otitis media (OM) from early infancy. We aimed to determine the proportion of Aboriginal infants living in an urban area who have OM and investigate associated risk factors.

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.

High prevalence of hearing loss in urban Aboriginal infants: the Djaalinj Waakinj cohort study

Chris Deborah Tamara Brennan-Jones Lehmann Veselinovic PhD AO, MBBS, MSc BSc(Hons) MClinAud PhD Head, Ear and Hearing Health Honorary Emeritus Fellow

Predominant Bacterial and Viral Otopathogens Identified Within the Respiratory Tract and Middle Ear of Urban Australian Children Experiencing Otitis Media Are Diversely Distributed

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.

Otitis media guidelines for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: summary of recommendations

The 2001 Recommendations for clinical care guidelines on the management of otitis media in Aboriginal and Torres Islander populations were revised in 2010. This 2020 update by the Centre of Research Excellence in Ear and Hearing Health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children used for the first time the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Topical versus systemic antibiotics for chronic suppurative otitis media

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM), sometimes referred to as chronic otitis media (COM), is a chronic inflammation and often polymicrobial infection (involving more than one micro-organism) of the middle ear and mastoid cavity, characterised by ear discharge (otorrhoea) through a perforated tympanic membrane. The predominant symptoms of CSOM are ear discharge and hearing loss. Antibiotics are the most common treatment for CSOM, which act to kill or inhibit the growth of micro-organisms that may be responsible for the infection.

Clinician-rated quality of video otoscopy recordings and still images for the asynchronous assessment of middle-ear disease

Video otoscopy plays an important role in improving access to ear health services. This study investigated the clinician-rated quality of video otoscopy recordings and still images, and compared their suitability for asynchronous diagnosis of middle-ear disease. Two hundred and eighty video otoscopy image-recording pairs were collected from 150 children (aged six months to 15 years) by an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, audiologists, and trained research assistants, and independently rated by an audiologist and ENT surgeon.

High pneumococcal serotype specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2 levels in serum and the middle ear of children with recurrent acute otitis media

Recurrent acute otitis media (AOM), frequently caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, is a major paediatric health problem.