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The Institute has become one of the world’s leading Strep A hubs, with multiple teams working in the Institute’s END RHD Program, headed by Associate Professor Asha Bowen, working to understand how Strep A works and find better ways to prevent and control the diseases it causes.

In late 2022, six-year-old Megan Hutton was living the dream of many kids her age as she celebrated being named runner-up champion athlete at her school sports carnival.

More than 3,000 skin checks have been undertaken as part of a large clinical trial in WA’s Kimberley region aimed at halving the burden of skin sores in school-aged Aboriginal children.

Aboriginal health is everyone's business. The needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and kids is integrated into all relevant areas of our work. Improving the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids and families is an overarching priority for every team at The Kids.

The generous support of West Australians through Channel 7’s Telethon Trust will help support crucial child health research at The Kids Research Institute Australia in 2022.

In a WA first, researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia have shown that Aboriginal babies are 22.5 times more likely to be treated for skin infections than non-Aboriginal babies.

One of Australia’s leading infectious disease experts, Associate Professor Asha Bowen, has been announced as a finalist for the country’s leading national science awards – the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

In close partnership with Aboriginal Elders and community members in Western Australia's south-west, we created ‘Kaal Tackles Eczema’, a children’s book to help Aboriginal families manage eczema. Our research showed a high prevalence and need for culturally relevant resources. The book uses Noongar language and art to educate and reduce infections, and is available online and in schools.

Acute rheumatic fever is an immune-mediated condition triggered by Streptococcus pyogenes sore throat and possibly skin infection, with a substantial burden in resource-limited settings. Clinical decision rules (CDRs) are commonly used to guide antibiotic treatment of sore throat based on signs and symptoms, but their diagnostic accuracy varies by study and setting. This work aimed to assess the accuracy of multiple CDRs in Fiji to diagnose S. pyogenes sore throat.

The prevalence of impetigo and pharyngitis - which are both superficial group A streptococcus (GAS) infections that precede acute rheumatic fever - is poorly defined. Guidelines recommend the early diagnosis of both infections to prevent ARF; however, screening to enable the concurrent detection of these infections in high-risk populations has rarely been performed.