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Wiping out childhood ear infections

Team

March 2023

among children with pneumonia using a causal Bayesian network

Pneumonia remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death among young children worldwide, and the diagnostic challenge of differentiating bacterial from non-bacterial pneumonia is the main driver of antibiotic use for treating pneumonia in children. Causal Bayesian networks (BNs) serve as powerful tools for this problem as they provide clear maps of probabilistic relationships between variables and produce results in an explainable way by incorporating both domain expert knowledge and numerical data.

Infectious Disease Implementation Research Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Vaccine Trials Group Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group
October 2022

Evidence of maternal transfer of antigen-specific antibodies in serum and breast milk to infants at high-risk of S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae disease

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.

Published research Breastfeeding Ear Infections Influenza Vaccine Trials Group Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group
March 2022

Predominant Bacterial and Viral Otopathogens Identified Within the Respiratory Tract and Middle Ear of Urban Australian Children Experiencing Otitis Media Are Diversely Distributed

Otitis media (OM) is one of the most common infections in young children, arising from bacterial and/or viral infection of the middle ear. Globally, Streptococcus pneumoniae and non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are the predominant bacterial otopathogens. Importantly, common upper respiratory viruses are increasingly recognized contributors to the polymicrobial pathogenesis of OM.

Published research Ear Infections Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group
April 2022

Australian Aboriginal Otitis-Prone Children Produce High-Quality Serum IgG to Putative Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Vaccine Antigens at Lower Titres Compared to Non-Aboriginal Children

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is the most common bacterial otopathogen associated with otitis media (OM). NTHi persists in biofilms within the middle ears of children with chronic and recurrent OM. Australian Aboriginal children suffer exceptionally high rates of chronic and recurrent OM compared to non-Aboriginal children.

Published research Ear Infections Vaccine Trials Group Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group