Remodeling of Metastatic Vasculature Reduces Lung Colonization and Sensitizes Overt Metastases to Immunotherapy.

Due to limited current therapies, metastases are the primary cause of mortality in cancer patients. Here, we employ a fusion compound of the cytokine LIGHT and a vascular targeting peptide (LIGHT-VTP) that homes to angiogenic blood vessels in primary tumors. We show in primary mouse lung cancer that normalization of tumor vasculature by LIGHT-VTP prevents cancer cell intravasation.

Face to face, person to person: Skills and attributes deployed by rural mental health clinicians when engaging with consumers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the skills and attributes deployed by rural mental health clinicians when engaging with consumers in the community mental health context.

Design: Reflecting the exploratory nature of this research, a semi-structured focus group was conducted.

Setting: One community mental health service in regional South Australia (catchment area = approximately 60 000 people).

Engaging consumers in the Australian emergency mental health context: a qualitative perspective from clinicians working in the community.

Successfully engaging with consumers is seen as an essential component of mental healthcare, yet doing so can be challenging and little is understood about the unique engagement skills and attributes employed by mental health clinicians working in the emergency community context. Consequently, this qualitative study explored the engagement experiences of clinicians to identify the attributes used when engaging with consumers in this unique setting. We conducted two semi-structured focus groups in July and August 2011 with 16 clinicians employed at one metropolitan mental health organisation in South Australia.

The utility of seroepidemiology for tracking trends in pertussis infection.

Comparing pertussis epidemiology over time and between countries is confounded by differences in diagnostic and notification practices. Standardized serological methods applied to population-based samples enhance comparability. Population prevalence of different levels of pertussis toxin IgG (PT IgG) antibody, measured by standardized methods, were compared by age group and region of Australia between 1997/1998 and 2002.

Population seroprevalence of human papillomavirus types 6, 11, 16, and 18 in men, women, and children in Australia.

Background: Representative population-based data on human papillomavirus (HPV) epidemiology are important for public health decision making but are difficult to obtain. Seroepidemiology is a valuable tool, although the relationship between HPV infection and seropositivity is incomplete.

Methods: We obtained a large representative sample using residual diagnostic test serum samples obtained from individuals aged 0-69 years (1247 samples from male patients and 1523 samples from female patients) in Australia.

The seroepidemiology of Helicobacter pylori infection in Australia.

Background: Infection with Helicobacter pylori is common worldwide and a significant cause of upper gastrointestinal disease. Prevalence of this infection varies in different population groups internationally. Because of the invasiveness of specimen collection for bacteriologic diagnosis and the expense of tests such as labeled urea breath tests, serology is the most feasible means of determining the population epidemiology of H.

Towards elimination: measles susceptibility in Australia and 17 European countries.

Objective: To evaluate age-specific measles susceptibility in Australia and 17 European countries.

Methods: As part of the European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 (ESEN2), 18 countries collected large national serum banks between 1996 and 2004. These banks were tested for measles IgG and the results converted to a common unitage to enable valid intercountry comparisons.

Comparison of rubella seroepidemiology in 17 countries: progress towards international disease control targets.

Objective: To standardize serological surveillance to compare rubella susceptibility in Australia and 16 European countries, and measure progress towards international disease-control targets.

Methods: Between 1996 and 2004, representative serum banks were established in 17 countries by collecting residual sera or community sampling. Serum banks were tested in each country and assay results were standardized.

Older persons' perception of risk of falling: implications for fall-prevention campaigns.

Objectives: We examined older people's attitudes about falls and implications for the design of fall-prevention awareness campaigns.

Methods: We assessed data from (1) computer-assisted telephone surveys conducted in 2002 with Australians 60 years and older in Northern Rivers, New South Wales (site of a previous fall-prevention program; n=1601), and Wide Bay, Queensland (comparison community; n=1601), and (2) 8 focus groups (n=73).

Results: Participants from the previous intervention site were less likely than were comparison participants to agree that falls are not preventable (odds ratio [OR]=0.

The impact of a new universal infant and school-based adolescent hepatitis B vaccination program in Australia.

We compared the results of two national serosurveys in Australia to evaluate the impact of universal infant vaccination and school-based programs for adolescents. Immunity improved significantly overall, especially in 1-year-olds (40.0% versus 86%; p<0.

Standardization of measles, mumps and rubella assays to enable comparisons of seroprevalence data across 21 European countries and Australia.

The aim of the European Sero-Epidemiology Network is to establish comparability of the serological surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe. The designated reference laboratory (RL) for measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) prepared and tested a panel of 151 sera by the reference enzyme immunoassay (rEIA). Laboratories in 21 countries tested the panel for antibodies against MMR using their usual assay (a total of 16 different EIAs) and the results were plotted against the reference results in order to obtain equations for the standardization of national serum surveys.

Population-based seroprevalence of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C capsular antibody before the introduction of conjugate vaccine, in Australia.

Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (NMC) conjugate vaccine was introduced, in Australia, in 2003. Our aims were to determine pre-immunisation IgG NMC seroprevalence and evaluate an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), previously validated against the serum bactericidal assay (SBA). 2409 sera, collected in 2002, from subjects aged 2-34 years, were tested.

National serosurvey of cytomegalovirus in Australia.

In anticipation of the development of a vaccine against cytomegalovirus (CMV), we conducted a large, nationally representative serosurvey to examine the seroprevalence of CMV in Australia. Sera were collected opportunistically from laboratories around Australia. Age- and gender-representative samples were tested for CMV antibody.

Evaluation of two enzyme immunoassays for detection of immunoglobulin G antibodies to mumps virus.

To determine suitability for national serosurveys, we compared two commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for mumps antibody, Enzygnost Anti-Parotitis-Virus/IgG (which uses a whole-virus antigen) and Microimmune Mumps IgG Screen ELISA (which uses a recombinant nucleoprotein antigen), by testing 1,915 opportunistically collected sera submitted to diagnostic laboratories across Australia in 1997 to 1998. The proportion of positive results increased with age in both ELISAs but was significantly higher with the Microimmune than with the Enzygnost ELISA overall (88% versus 63%; P < 0.01) and in all age groups.

European seroepidemiology network 2: Standardisation of assays for seroepidemiology of varicella zoster virus.

Background: The aim of the European Sero-Epidemiology Network (ESEN2) is to harmonise the serological surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases in Europe.

Objective: To allow comparison of antibody prevalence in different countries by standardising results into common units.

Study Design: For varicella zoster virus (VZV), a reference laboratory established a panel of 148 samples, characterised by indirect enzyme-immunoassay (ELISA), indirect immunofluorescence, and complement fixation test.

Immunity to diphtheria and tetanus in Australia: a national serosurvey.

Objective: To determine immunity to tetanus and diphtheria in the Australian population.

Design And Setting: Analysis, using double antigen enzyme immunoassays, of a representative sample of sera (1950 samples tested for diphtheria and 2884 for tetanus) collected opportunistically from Australian laboratories between July 1996 and May 1999.

Main Outcome Measure: Immunity to diphtheria and tetanus, defined as negative (susceptible) when the antitoxin level was < 0.

National serosurvey of poliovirus immunity in Australia, 1996-99.

Objective: To measure immunity to poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 in the Australian population.

Methods: Sera were collected opportunistically from laboratories around Australia between 1996 and 1999. A representative sample by age and gender was tested for neutralising antibodies to poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3.

Hepatitis C prevalence--a nationwide serosurvey.

Hepatitis C is the most commonly notified disease in Australia. In 1998 the Hepatitis C Virus Projections Working Group (HCPWG) estimated that there were approximately 210,000 people who had been infected by hepatitis C virus (HCV) in Australia by 2001. Population-based serosurveys are required to validate this estimate.

Treponema pallidum western blot: comparison with the FTA-ABS test as a confirmatory test for syphilis.

We developed a Treponema pallidum Western blot and compared the results with Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests. The Western blot was deemed reactive if the serum reacted with at least three major antigenic bands (TpN47, TpN44.5, TpN17, TpN15).

Failure of penicillin treatment of yaws on Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea.

The endemic treponematosis yaws remains a significant cause of morbidity in many tropical countries, despite mass treatment campaigns to eradicate it. An outbreak of yaws in Marup village on Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea in 1988 provided an opportunity to monitor the outcome of treatment with penicillin over an extended period. Thirty-nine children with clinical yaws (6% of 632 examined) were monitored clinically and serologically, for nearly two years after mass treatment of all villagers with the World Health Organization recommended dosages of benzathine penicillin.

Pre-admission management of acute gastroenteritis.

Objective: Acute gastroenteritis contributes to significant morbidity and need for hospital admission. The current literature suggests outpatient management is often inappropriate. This study examines the pre-admission management of children admitted with acute gastroenteritis to a major children's hospital.

Evaluation of immunoglobulin G enzyme immunoassay for serodiagnosis of yaws.

A commercially available enzyme immunoassay (EIA), the Captia Syphilis-G immunoglobulin G (IgG) EIA, for the detection of IgG antibodies to Treponema pallidum was evaluated for use as a screening test for yaws (Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue). The IgG EIA was compared with the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test.