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Research

Population-level studies of severe pertussis extending beyond infancy are sparse, and none in the context of antenatal vaccination. We compared hospitalized pertussis cases from birth to 15 years of age before and after introduction of antenatal immunization.

Research

There remains a general misconception that the immune status of the fetus and neonate is immature or insufficient. However, emerging research in immune ontogeny prompts reconsideration of this orthodoxy, reframing this period instead as one of unique opportunity. Vaccine responses (qualitative and quantitative) vary between individuals, and across demographic cohorts. Elements of baseline immune status and function predict vaccine response - some of these factors are well described, others remain a subject of ongoing research, especially with the rapidly expanding field of 'omics' research, enabled by development of highly granular immune profiling techniques and increasing computational capacity.

Research

Influenza immunisation is a highly cost-effective public health intervention. Despite a comprehensive National Immunisation Program, influenza vaccination in children and adolescents with special risk medical conditions (SRMCs) is suboptimal. Flutext-4U is an innovative, multi-component strategy targeting paediatric hospitals, general practice and parents of children and adolescents with SRMC.

Research

Transmissible vaccines have the potential to revolutionize how zoonotic pathogens are controlled within wildlife reservoirs. A key challenge that must be overcome is identifying viral vectors that can rapidly spread immunity through a reservoir population.

Research

Vaccination is the most effective method of protecting people from invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Of all the capsular groups, B is the most common cause of invasive meningococcal disease in many parts of the world. Despite this, adolescent meningococcal B vaccine programs have not been implemented globally, partly due to the lack of evidence for herd immunity afforded by meningococcal B vaccines.

Research

Children with chronic medical conditions are at higher risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), but little is known about the effectiveness of the primary course of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in these children.

Research

Adverse pregnancy outcomes including maternal mortality, stillbirth, preterm birth, intrauterine growth restriction cause millions of deaths each year. More effective interventions are urgently needed. Maternal immunization could be one such intervention protecting the mother and newborn from infection through its pathogen-specific effects.

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We aimed to assess the direct protective effect of 13 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (13vPCV) against invasive pneumococcal pneumonia (IPP; including pneumonia and empyema) in children using a nation-wide case-control study across 11 paediatric tertiary hospitals in Australia.

Research

The need for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in different age groups and populations is a subject of great uncertainty and an ongoing global debate. Critical knowledge gaps regarding COVID-19 vaccination include the duration of protection offered by different priming and booster vaccination regimens in different populations, including homologous or heterologous schedules.

Research

The Bacille-Calmette–Guerin (BCG) vaccination remains the primary strategy to prevent severe disseminated TB in young children, particularly in high TB-burden countries such as Ethiopia. Accurate knowledge of vaccination coverage in small geographical areas is critically important to developing targeted immunization campaigns. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the spatiotemporal distributions and ecological level determinants of BCG vaccination coverage in Ethiopia.