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For decades, the research community has called for participant information sheets/consent forms (PICFs) to be improved. Recommendations include simplifying content, reducing length, presenting information in layers and using multimedia. However, there are relatively few studies that have evaluated health consumers' (patients/carers) perspectives on the type and organisation of information, and the level of detail to be included in a PICF to optimise an informed decision to enter a trial.
Seasonal inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) is routinely recommended during pregnancy to protect both mothers and infants from complications following influenza infection. While previous studies have evaluated the risk of major structural birth defects in infants associated with prenatal administration of monovalent pandemic IIV, fewer studies have evaluated the risk associated with prenatal seasonal IIV.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly 2020-2021, young adults were often significant transmitters of the virus. Prior to the availability of vaccines for young adults, we sought to understand what would contribute to their uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine and how government policy might intervene. We undertook qualitative interviews between February and April 2021 with 19 participants (aged 18-29) in Perth, Western Australia.
The search for clinically effective antivirals against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is ongoing. Repurposing of drugs licensed for non–coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) indications has been extensively investigated in laboratory models and in clinical studies with mixed results.
Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a human pathogen of global importance, classified into serotypes based on the type of capsular polysaccharide produced. Serotyping of pneumococci is essential for disease surveillance and vaccine impact measurement.
Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) is responsible for a significant global health and economic burden. The recent prioritization of Strep A vaccine development by the World Health Organization has prompted global research activities and collaborations. To progress this prioritization, establishment of robust surveillance for Strep A to generate updated regional disease burden estimates and to establish platforms for future impact evaluation is essential.
Pulmonary exacerbations are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). There is no consensus about which outcomes should be evaluated in studies of pulmonary exacerbations or how these outcomes should be measured.
Children in low-mid income countries, and First Nations children in high-income countries, experience disproportionately high rates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae infections and diseases including pneumonia and otitis media.
We assessed the utility of routine viral surveillance for cytomegalovirus, Epstein–Barr virus and human adenovirus in children <16 years, undergoing autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) at a single centre over a 10-year period. A total of 85 ASCT were performed in 65 patients.
The incidence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults is inadequately defined and the impact of SARS-CoV-2-related non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) is underexplored. Using laboratory data, we described the detection rate of RSV in adults ≥16 years in Western Australia (WA) between 2017 and 2023.