Check4Strep
Check4Strep is a co-designed community-based project to demonstrate where the Strep A is and how it’s likely being spread. Obtaining and sharing local data, and developing a local (place-based) response, will be defining features of the study to foster engagement and motivation, and ensure responses are locally relevant. The centrepiece of Check4Strep is a series of community Strep A engagement days in which the target population will be invited to participate in conversations about Strep A, and get tested for Strep A. The study will collect swab samples for point-of-care testing, and swab and cough samples for culture and Strep A identification at the Menzies laboratory.
Visit Check4Strep - Menzies for more information.
Exploring Healthy Living Practice 2 ‘Washing clothes and bedding’
STARFISH is looking into the role of Healthy Living Practice 2 ‘Washing clothes and bedding’ to reduce the spread of Strep A and other causes of skin infections.
Would you like to talk with us about any of these projects? Please email STARFISHProgram@thekids.org.au or A/Prof Rosemary Wyber (rosemary.wyber@thekids.org.au), Dr Rachel Burgess (rachel.burgess@thekids.org.au) or Dr Kate Summer (kate.summer@thekids.org.au). We also have a monthly ‘drop-in’ meeting where we discuss these projects and other HLP2 considerations. Please email us for more information.
How can communities use their own primary care data to understand the effects of housing on health outcomes?
Functional housing and infrastructure are critical for leading a healthy life. Inadequate housing and living conditions can reduce access to Healthy Living Practices, and increase rates of infectious disease, including Strep A infections. Local clinics are key in managing housing-associated infectious diseases (HAIDs). Understanding how often people need to visit the clinic for HAIDs would be a useful way to monitor the impact of different initiatives that seek to improve housing and living conditions. However, there is currently no agreed list of HAIDs or ways to use clinic data, which makes long-term monitoring and evaluation difficult and dependent on intensive research projects.
We are seeking to develop a tool to monitor HAIDs using routinely collected primary care (clinic) data. This would enable community-controlled health services to generate, interpret and use their own data, and communicate their stories about housing and health. Our work began with a perspective article followed by a systematic review to develop a list of HAIDs for potential inclusion in the tool. Soon, we will be consulting with key knowledge holders to understand important views on how to best approach this work, followed by a consensus-based decision-making process to refine a shorter list of HAIDs. Alongside this, we are exploring the technical aspects of a HAID tool with primary care community development partners.
Efficacy of Strep A self-swabbing
The ‘Efficacy of Strep A self-swabbing’ (ESTA) Study aimed to undertake surveillance of those working in a medical research institute to determine the sensitivity of self-collected collected pharyngeal swabs for Strep A among asymptomatic carriers. Results paper coming soon.
Optimising targeted investigations of Strep A transmission and Environmental Health Initiatives (EHIs) assessment: a model-based approach
In this project, we will develop an adaptable framework that will identify the optimal design of Strep A and EHI studies. Our parameter estimations will provide a more nuanced understanding of transmission and so help to identify elements of Strep A transmission pathways that can be targeted by EHIs to disrupt transmission. A Two-Way Learning Panel will meet throughout this project to enable capacity-building, ensure cultural sensitivity, and to maximise the relevance and uptake of findings.