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Influenza vaccine effectiveness against laboratory-confirmed influenza in healthy children aged 6-59 months:The Western Australian Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness study commenced in 2008 to evaluate a new program to provide free influenza vaccine to all children...
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Assessing the protective effect of influenza vaccine against laboratory confirmed influenza in hospitalised children aged 6-59 monthsInfluenza vaccine was offered to all children aged 6-59 months resident in Western Australia in 2008, and we wished to evaluate the effectiveness of this immunisation programme.
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Respiratory Syncytial Virus Strain Evolution and Mutations in Western Australia in the Context of Nirsevimab ProphylaxisNirsevimab is a long-acting monoclonal antibody used to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in infants and high-risk children. During the 2024 RSV season in Western Australia, 21 922 doses were administered to infants entering their first season and 1221 doses to at-risk children. In this context, the selection and spread of escape variants are a potential concern. This study aimed to investigate nirsevimab binding site mutations using clinical and wastewater data.
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Postsepsis Care Needs in Children and Families: Single-Center, Codesign Qualitative Research from Western AustraliaSepsis, for children and their parents, is a life-altering illness with far-reaching psychosocial and physical impacts. We aimed to explore the needs of such patients and their parents after hospital admission for sepsis to inform the development of a Western Australian postsepsis care service.
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Nudging towards COVID-19 and influenza vaccination in children with medically at-risk conditionsNon-coercive 'nudge' interventions have shown the potential to promote health behaviours. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of nudge interventions on COVID-19/influenza vaccine uptake among children with medically at-risk conditions.
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The Association Between Obesity and COVID-19 Severity in Children Differed Between SARS-CoV-2 Variants: A Multicountry Hospital-based Observational StudyObesity was a risk factor for severe COVID-19 in children during early outbreaks of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and the Delta variant. However, the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity during the Omicron wave remains unclear.
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ATAGI Targeted Review 2021: the national COVID-19 vaccination programThe overarching goal of the Australian coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program has been to protect all people in Australia from the harm caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This review reflects on the role of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) in the national COVID-19 vaccination program, in terms of the initial programmatic and clinical recommendations in the evolving context of evidence relating to the disease and vaccines, epidemiology, and the program rollout.
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The Spectrum and Burden of COVID-19-Associated Neurologic Disease in Australian Children 2020-2023We aimed to describe the clinical spectrum and burden of COVID-19-associated neurologic disease in Australian children.
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“We've wanted to vaccinate against it and now we can”: views of respiratory syncytial virus disease and immunisation held by caregivers of Aboriginal children in Perth, Western AustraliaRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infection with a higher burden in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants and children. We conducted a pilot qualitative study identifying disease knowledge and willingness to immunise following the changing immunisation landscape for infant RSV in 2024.
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“You’re telling us to go first?!” COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination experiences among Aboriginal adults in Western AustraliaGlobally, Indigenous populations have been disproportionately impacted by pandemics. In Australia, though national infection rates with COVID-19 infections in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were lower in the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was soon a greater burden in Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island people once Omicron was circulating. Uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine was also lower among Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.