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Clinical predictors of hypoxic pneumonia in children from the Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea: secondary analysis of two prospective observational studiesPneumonia is the leading cause of death in young children globally and is prevalent in the Papua New Guinea highlands. We investigated clinical predictors of hypoxic pneumonia to inform local treatment guidelines in this resource-limited setting.
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The Respiratory Microbiome in Paediatric Chronic Wet Cough: What Is Known and Future DirectionsChronic wet cough for longer than 4 weeks is a hallmark of chronic suppurative lung diseases, including protracted bacterial bronchitis, and bronchiectasis in children. Severe lower respiratory infection early in life is a major risk factor of PBB and paediatric bronchiectasis.
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The SPEC score—A quantifiable CT scoring system for primary ciliary dyskinesiaStructural lung changes seen on computed tomography scans in persons with primary ciliary dyskinesia are currently described using cystic fibrosis derived scoring systems. Recent work has shown structural changes and frequencies that are unique to PCD, indicating the need for a unique PCD-derived scoring system.
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Genomic testing for children with interstitial and diffuse lung disease (chILD): parent satisfaction, understanding and health-related quality of lifeResearch is needed to determine best practice for genomic testing in the context of child interstitial or diffuse lung disease. We explored parent's and child's health-related quality of life, parents' perceived understanding of a genomic testing study, satisfaction with information and the study and decisional regret to undertake genomic testing.
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Evaluating the effectiveness of the Play Active policy intervention and implementation support in early childhood education and care: a pragmatic cluster randomised trial protocolDaily physical activity is critical during the early years of life for facilitating children's health and development. A large proportion of preschool children do not achieve the recommended 3 h of daily physical activity. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are a key setting to intervene to increase physical activity. There is a significant need for ECEC specific physical activity policy, including clearer guidelines on the amount of physical activity children should do during care, and strategies for implementation of these guidelines.
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Safety and immunogenicity of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines in a high-risk population: a randomised controlled trial of PCV in Papua New Guinean infantsInfant vaccination with 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 is safe and immunogenic in a highly endemic setting
People
Associate Professor Lea-Ann KirkhamCo-Head, Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group; Microbiology Lead, Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases
Research
Evaluation of a bacterial therapy for prevention of respiratory infection including influenza and otitis mediaDeborah Lea-Ann Peter Ruth Strickland Kirkham Richmond Thornton PhD PhD MBBS MRCP(UK) FRACP PhD Program Head, Immunobiology and Immunotherapeutic
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among children with pneumonia using a causal Bayesian networkPneumonia remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death among young children worldwide, and the diagnostic challenge of differentiating bacterial from non-bacterial pneumonia is the main driver of antibiotic use for treating pneumonia in children. Causal Bayesian networks (BNs) serve as powerful tools for this problem as they provide clear maps of probabilistic relationships between variables and produce results in an explainable way by incorporating both domain expert knowledge and numerical data.