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Safety, tolerability, and effect of a single aural dose of Dornase alfa at the time of ventilation tube surgery for otitis media: A Phase 1b double randomized control trialOne third of children require repeat ventilation tube insertion (VTI) for otitis media. Disease recurrence is associated with persistent middle ear bacterial biofilms. With demonstration that Dornase alfa (a DNase) disrupts middle ear effusion biofilms ex vivo, we identified potential for this as an anti-biofilm therapy to prevent repeat VTI. First, safety and tolerability needed to be measured.
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Randomized Trial of BCG Vaccine to Protect against Covid-19 in Health Care WorkersThe bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has immunomodulatory "off-target" effects that have been hypothesized to protect against coronavirus disease 2019.
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A novel precision-serology assay for SARS-CoV-2 infection based on linear B-cell epitopes of Spike proteinThe COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the need for serology diagnostics with improved accuracy. While conventional serology based on recognition of entire proteins or subunits thereof has made significant contribution to the antibody assessment space, it often suffers from sub-optimal specificity. Epitope-based, high-precision, serology assays hold potential to capture the high specificity and diversity of the immune system, hence circumventing the cross-reactivity with closely related microbial antigens.
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Meningococcal Disease in the Post–COVID-19 Era: A Time to PrepareThe global invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) landscape changed considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by decreased incidence rates due to COVID-19 mitigation measures, such as limited social contact, physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. Vaccination rates were also lower during the pandemic relative to pre-pandemic levels.
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‘COVID Is Coming, and I’m Bloody Scared’: How Adults with Co-Morbidities’ Threat Perceptions of COVID-19 Shape Their Vaccination DecisionsAustralian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children in rural/remote areas suffer high rates of persistent otitis media (OM) from early infancy. We aimed to determine the proportion of Aboriginal infants living in an urban area who have OM and investigate associated risk factors.
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Artemisinin combination therapy at delivery to prevent postpartum malaria: A randomised open-label controlled trialAlthough the incidence of malaria is increased in women in endemic areas after delivery compared to non-pregnant women, no studies have assessed the benefit of presumptive antimalarial treatment given postpartum.
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Are C-reactive protein and procalcitonin safe and useful for antimicrobial stewardship purposes in patients with COVID-19 - A scoping reviewThe primary objectives of this study were to assess the usefulness of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin in the diagnosis of bacterial co-infections in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and if their incorporation in antimicrobial stewardship programs is safe and useful, stratified by severity of disease as level of care, intensive care unit (ICU) or non-ICU.
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Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for children: Attitudes of Western Australian parentsAustralian governments have used vaccine mandates to drive high uptake of routine childhood vaccines and adult Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and influenza vaccines. We sought to understand the attitudes of Western Australian parents regarding mandating COVID-19 vaccines for children, interviewing 44 parents of children aged up to 18 years between May and December 2021. Transcripts were analysed to ascertain parents' attitudes and sources of reasoning.
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Population-based assessment of cardiovascular complications of rheumatic heart disease in Fiji: a record-linkage analysisTo determine population-based rates of non-fatal complications of rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
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The genomic evolutionary dynamics and global circulation patterns of respiratory syncytial virusRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of acute lower respiratory tract infection in young children and the second leading cause of infant death worldwide. While global circulation has been extensively studied for respiratory viruses such as seasonal influenza, and more recently also in great detail for SARS-CoV-2, a lack of global multi-annual sampling of complete RSV genomes limits our understanding of RSV molecular epidemiology.