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Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is a common infection at birth with the potential to cause significant and permanent morbidity, most commonly hearing loss. Targeted cCMV testing programmes use hearing loss as an indicator of an infant being at high risk of the infection and thereby can 'target' or focus testing on those at greatest risk. Australian and International guidelines recommend that high-risk infants be offered cCMV testing, yet across Australia, a formal testing system does not exist.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a significant cause of respiratory infections in young children. Since 2021, RSV has been a notifiable disease in Australia. However, current surveillance systems focus on hospitalised RSV, with limited surveillance at a community level through primary care clinics. This approach only captures RSV requiring hospitalisation. Less severe illnesses, while not captured, may have significant social and economic impacts including the associated cost of care and absenteeism. The aim of this study is to establish an understanding of the broader burden of RSV in young children in a community setting.
Children with early-stage (pre-symptomatic) type 1 diabetes are currently identified primarily via research-based screening programmes in Australia. Once identified, families live with the knowledge that their child has an increased chance of developing symptomatic, lifelong, insulin-requiring type 1 diabetes but have no specific clinical pathway available to them in Western Australia for accessing tailored support or education. This project aimed to co-design a new clinical pathway to address this unmet need.
Severe microcephaly, or head circumference at least 3 standard deviations below the mean for age and sex, is a rare condition with diverse etiology, making diagnosis challenging. Following the 2015 to 2016 Zika virus outbreak, surveillance studies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom and Ireland were conducted to monitor severe microcephaly. We describe the etiology, clinical features, and diagnostic investigations of severe microcephaly among children aged younger than 1 year.
While international evidence suggests seasonal variations may influence outcomes of interventions for pediatric obesity, data for Aotearoa New Zealand are limited. We examined seasonal variations in changes in body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS) in young people with obesity enrolled in an intervention programme.
Although uncommon, invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) results in death in 5%-10% of cases in healthy children and adolescents. This study aimed to examine demographics, clinical presentation, treatment and outcomes of Australian children hospitalized with IMD during the introduction of the meningococcal vaccine program, overall and by serogroup/disease severity.
The social determinants of health, as described by the World Health Organisation (WHO), are 'the non-medical factors' that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life. According to the WHO, social determinants of health account for between 30-55% of health outcomes, and children can be particularly vulnerable to their impacts.
Children are disproportionately affected by the negative health effects of climate change. We did a systematic review to synthesise the available evidence on tested interventions to improve child health in response to the impacts of climate change.
Asha Jacinta Bernadette Bowen Walton Ricciardo BA MBBS DCH FRACP PhD GAICD FAHMS OAM MBBS (hon) DCH FACD Head, Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention
Physical activity can support physical and mental health among children living with chronic health conditions; however, programmes must be tailored to their specific needs to support participation.