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Preterm babies have a heightened risk of infection as their immune system is not mature. The Neonatal Health Team is exploring new ways to diagnose, prevent and treat infections in WA's smallest patients .
Appropriate use of antibiotics is life-saving in neonatal early-onset sepsis (EOS), but overuse of antibiotics is associated with antimicrobial resistance and long-term adverse outcomes.
Tick-borne diseases are a growing global health concern. Despite extensive studies, ill-defined tick-associated pathologies remain with unknown aetiologies. Human immunological responses after tick bite, and inter-individual variations of immune-response phenotypes, are not well characterised.
Rotifers are used as the first feed for marine fish larvae and are grown in large cultures that have high loads of organic matter and heterotrophic bacteria; these bacteria are passed on to the developing fish larvae and can potentially lead to bacterial infections.
Polymicrobial sepsis is associated with worse patient outcomes than monomicrobial sepsis. Routinely used culture-dependent microbiological diagnostic techniques have low sensitivity, often leading to missed identification of all causative organisms.
Preterm infants are at increased risk for invasive neonatal bacterial infections. S. epidermidis, a ubiquitous skin commensal, is a major cause of late-onset neonatal sepsis, particularly in high-resource settings. The vulnerability of preterm infants to serious bacterial infections is commonly attributed to their distinct and developing immune system.
The physicochemical compatibility of alprostadil injection with secondary intravenous (IV) drugs and 2-in-1 parenteral nutrition (PN) solutions used in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit settings was investigated.
Antibiotic exposure in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) is high. This study describes antibiotic use in very preterm infants and examines the association between duration of exposure and outcomes in blood culture negative (CN) infants.
The abundant skin commensal, Staphylococcus epidermidis, is the leading cause of late-onset sepsis (LOS) in preterm infants but rarely causes infections in term infants and adults. Staphylococcal virulence mechanisms and the role of the preterm immune responses in driving these life-threatening infections remain poorly understood.
The neonatal skin is central to early survival and immune development. Far from being a passive mechanical barrier, it integrates physical, chemical, and microbial defences that together protect the infant in the immediate postnatal period. In preterm infants, structural immaturity, reduced antimicrobial capacity, and altered microbial colonisation confer heightened vulnerability to infection and inflammation.