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Latest news & events at the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases.
Clinical Professor Tobias Strunk, Dr Andrew Currie and their Neonatal Infection and Immunity Team have become the newest members of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases.
Recently, we identified a Staphylococcus aureus sequence type 5 (ST5) clone in northern Australia with discrepant trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT) susceptibility results. We aimed to identify isolates of this clone using Vitek 2 SXT resistance as a proxy and to compare its epidemiology with those of other circulating S. aureus strains. We collated Vitek 2 susceptibility data for S. aureus isolates collected through our laboratory and conducted a prospective, case-control study comparing clinical, microbiological, epidemiological, and genomic data for subsets of isolates reported as SXT resistant (cases) and SXT susceptible (controls) by Vitek 2.
Impetigo, a bacterial infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes and S. aureus of the superficial dermis affects up to 162 million children at any one time. Three out of every five school-children in Samoa have active or recently healed impetigo, far higher than the global median impetigo prevalence surpassing previous estimates for the Oceania region.
Itraconazole remains a first-line antifungal agent for certain fungal infections in children, including allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and sporotrichosis, but poor attainment of therapeutic drug levels is frequently observed with available oral formulations. A formulation of 'SUper BioAvailability itraconazole' (SUBA-itraconazole; Lozanoc®) has been developed, with adult studies demonstrating rapid and reliable attainment of therapeutic levels, yet paediatric data are lacking.
The high burden of infectious disease and associated antimicrobial use likely contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in remote Australian Aboriginal communities. We aimed to develop and apply context-specific tools to audit antimicrobial use in the remote primary healthcare setting.
The burden and consequences of skin infections for remote living indigenous people are high
The Kids has recruited Dr Timothy Barnett to embark on a Fellowship to help close gaps in health outcomes between Indigenous and non-indigenous kids
The structure and function of infant skin is not fully developed until 34 weeks of gestation, and this immaturity is associated with risk of late-onset sepsis (LOS). Topical coconut oil improves preterm-infant skin integrity and may reduce LOS. However, data on early-life skin-microbiome succession and potential effects of emollient skin care in preterm infants are scarce.
Atopic dermatitis is a common inflammatory skin condition and prior genome-wide association studies have identified 71 associated loci. In the current study we conducted the largest AD GWAS to date combining previously reported cohorts with additional available data.