Financial incentives to motivate treatment for hepatitis C with direct acting antivirals among Australian adults (The Methodical evaluation and Optimisation of Targeted IncentiVes for Accessing Treatment of Early-stage hepatitis C: MOTIVATE-C): protocol for a dose-response randomised controlled study.

Background: Untreated hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection can result in cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies are highly effective and have few side effects compared to older interferon-based therapy. Despite the Australian government providing subsidised and unrestricted access to DAA therapy for chronic HCV infection, uptake has not been sufficient to meet the global target of eliminating HCV as a public health threat by 2030.

Impact of Meningococcal ACWY Vaccination Program during 2017-18 Epidemic, Western Australia, Australia.

The rising incidence of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W in Western Australia, Australia, presents challenges for prevention. We assessed the effects of a quadrivalent meningococcal vaccination program using 2012-2020 IMD notification data. Notification rates peaked at 1.

Infant Whole-Cell Versus Acellular Pertussis Vaccination in 1997 to 1999 and Risk of Childhood Hospitalization for Food-Induced Anaphylaxis: Linked Administrative Databases Cohort Study.

Background: Evidence suggests that children who had received an initial priming dose of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine, rather than acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine, had a lower risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergy, the most common cause of anaphylaxis-related hospital presentations of childhood.

Objective: To assess the association between wP versus aP vaccination in infancy and subsequent hospital presentations for anaphylaxis.

Methods: This study was preregistered under PMID 34874968.

Influenza vaccination in Western Australian children: Exploring the health benefits and cost savings of increased vaccine coverage in children.

Introduction: To assess potential benefits and direct healthcare cost savings with expansion of an existing childhood influenza immunisation program, we developed a dynamic transmission model for the state of Western Australia, evaluating increasing coverage in children < 5 years and routinely immunising school-aged children.

Methods: A deterministic compartmental Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered age-stratified transmission model was developed and calibrated using laboratory-notification and hospitalisation data. Base case vaccine coverage estimates were derived from 2019 data and tested under moderate, low and high vaccine effectiveness settings.

Association between pertussis vaccination in infancy and childhood asthma: A population-based record linkage cohort study.

Background: Asthma is among the commonest noncommunicable diseases of childhood and often occurs with other atopic comorbidities. A previous case-control study found evidence that compared to children who received acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines in early infancy, children who received one or more doses of whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine had lower risk of developing IgE-mediated food allergy. We hypothesized that wP vaccination in early infancy might protect against atopic asthma in childhood.

Incremental effectiveness of 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine against pneumonia hospitalisation among Australian Indigenous children: A record linkage study.

Background: The impact of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) on pneumonia in children is well-documented but data on 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) are lacking. Between 2001 and 2011, Indigenous children in Western Australia (WA) were recommended to receive PPV23 at 18-24 months of age following 3 doses of 7-valent PCV. We evaluated the incremental effectiveness of PPV23 against pneumonia hospitalisation.

Non-specific benefit of seasonal influenza vaccine on respiratory syncytial virus-hospitalisations in children: An instrumental variable approach using population-based data.

Background: Seasonal influenza vaccine is effective against influenza hospitalisations, but little is known about non-specific effects of the vaccine on other respiratory pathogens with similar seasonal patterns. We aimed to assess the causal impact of seasonal influenza vaccine on laboratory-confirmed hospitalisations for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children using an instrumental variable (IV) strategy.

Methods: We used probabilistically linked population-based data on childhood immunisations, births, deaths, hospitalisations, perinatal factors, and microbiology test results (2000-2013) of all Western Australian (WA) children born 2000-2012, observed longitudinally until the earliest of 7 years of age or 31 December 2013.

Review of the health impact of the oral rotavirus vaccine program in children under 5 years in Australia: 2006 - 2021.

Oral rotavirus vaccines were incorporated into the National Immunisation Program (NIP) for all Australian infants in July 2007. Initially each of the eight jurisdictions implemented Rotarix or RotaTeq rotavirus vaccine, however from July 2017 all states and territories have administered Rotarix only. This review evaluates the health impact of the oral rotavirus vaccine program for Australian children less than 5 years old over the first 15 years of the rotavirus vaccine program, observing long-term changes in rotavirus-related health care attendances, public health notifications, and vaccine effectiveness and safety data for both Rotarix and RotaTeq rotavirus vaccines.

Systematic review of the effect of additional doses of oral rotavirus vaccine on immunogenicity and reduction in diarrhoeal disease among young children.

Background: Oral rotavirus vaccines have lower effectiveness in high child mortality settings. We evaluated the impact of additional dose(s) schedules of rotavirus vaccine on vaccine immunogenicity and reduction in episodes of gastroenteritis.

Methods: We searched Medline (via PubMed), Cochrane databases and ClinicalTrials.

Assessment of Healing and Pain Response at Mandibular Third Molar Extraction Sites with and Without Pre- and PostOperative Photobiomodulation at Red and Near-Infrared Wavelengths: A Clinical Study.

Background: Photobiomodulation (PBM), formerly known as low-level laser therapy, has been successfully used for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties in postoperative care. It is also known to have a positive effect on healing and regeneration, at an appropriate power and wavelength.

Aim: The main objective was to assess the effect of preoperative as well a postoperative irradiation with low power of 100 milliwatts (mW) and 810-nanometer (nm) (near-infrared) and 660-nanometer(nm) (red) wavelengths on healing as well pain at mandibular third molar extraction sockets.

Effectiveness of 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Against Invasive Pneumococcal Disease in Medically At-Risk Children in Australia: A Record Linkage Study.

Background: 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.

Methods: A cohort born in 2001-2004 from two Australian states and identified as medically at-risk (MAR) of IPD either using ICD-coded hospitalizations (with conditions of interest identified by 6 months of age) or linked perinatal data (for prematurity) were followed to age 5 years for notified IPD by serotype. We categorized fully vaccinated children as either receiving PCV dose 3 by <12 months of age or ≥1 PCV dose at ≥12 months of age.

Pertussis burden and acellular pertussis vaccine effectiveness in high risk children.

Background: Pertussis hospitalisation is more common among infants born prematurely, who have significant comorbidities, or are Indigenous, but acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates in these sub-groups are lacking. We measured aP VE by Indigenous status, and policy-relevant categories of prematurity and comorbidity, in a population-based Australian cohort.

Methods: Perinatal, disease notification, hospitalisation, mortality, and vaccination data were linked to birth records in two Australian states (Western Australia and New South Wales) 2001-2012, with follow-up to the end of 2013.

Status epilepticus outcomes among vaccinated and unvaccinated children: A population-based study.

Aim: To determine the proportion of first status epilepticus (SE) cases that are vaccine-proximate (VP-) and compare clinical outcomes to non-vaccine-proximate (NVP-) cases.

Methods: Birth records for 1,440,807 Australian children born in 1998-2012, were probabilistically linked to hospitalizations, deaths, and vaccination history available to 2013. First SE coded hospitalizations were categorized as VP-SE or NVP-SE; clinical severity and post-SE vaccination coverage were compared.

Pertussis immunisation in infancy and atopic outcomes: A protocol for a population-based cohort study using linked administrative data.

Introduction: The burden of IgE-mediated food allergy in Australian born children is reported to be among the highest globally. This illness shares risk factors and frequently coexists with asthma, one of the most common noncommunicable diseases of childhood. Findings from a case-control study suggest that compared to immunisation with acellular pertussis vaccine, early priming of infants with whole-cell pertussis vaccine may be associated with a lower risk of subsequent IgE-mediated food allergy.

Safety of live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine in Australian adults 70-79 years of age: an observational study using active surveillance.

Objectives: To assess the safety of live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine live (ZVL) through cumulative analysis of near real-time, participant-based active surveillance from Australia's AusVaxSafety system.

Design And Setting: ZVL was funded in Australia for adults aged 70 years from November 2016, with a time-limited catch up programme for those up to 79 years. This cohort study monitored safety in the first two programme years through active surveillance at 246 sentinel surveillance immunisation sites.

Estimating pneumococcal vaccine coverage among Australian Indigenous children and children with medically at-risk conditions using record linkage.

Background: Risk-based recommendations are common for pneumococcal vaccines but little is known about their uptake. In Australia, pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) was funded only for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) children and those with underlying medical conditions in 2001, and then there were different booster dose recommendations depending on risk after the introduction of universal PCV vaccination in 2005.

Methods: We measured coverage of PCV dose 3 and additional PCV and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) doses by risk group among children born in July 2001-December 2012 in two Australian states using linked immunisation and hospitalisation data (available until December 2013).

Mode of birth and risk of infection-related hospitalisation in childhood: A population cohort study of 7.17 million births from 4 high-income countries.

Background: The proportion of births via cesarean section (CS) varies worldwide and in many countries exceeds WHO-recommended rates. Long-term health outcomes for children born by CS are poorly understood, but limited data suggest that CS is associated with increased infection-related hospitalisation. We investigated the relationship between mode of birth and childhood infection-related hospitalisation in high-income countries with varying CS rates.

RSV prophylaxis use in high-risk infants in Western Australia, 2002-2013: a record linkage cohort study.

Background: The monoclonal antibody, palivizumab is licensed for use in high-risk infants to prevent severe illness caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The level of its use and compliance with current jurisdictional guidelines which were amended in 2010, is unknown. We determined the level of palivizumab use in a cohort of high-risk infants in Western Australia.

Impact of Rotavirus Vaccines on Gastroenteritis Hospitalizations in Western Australia: A Time-series Analysis.

Background: Rotavirus vaccination was introduced into the Australian National Immunisation Program in mid-2007. We aimed to assess the impact of the rotavirus vaccination program on the burden of hospitalizations associated with all-cause acute gastroenteritis (including rotavirus gastroenteritis and non-rotavirus gastroenteritis) in the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal population in Western Australia.

Methods: We identified all hospital records, between July 2004 and June 2012, with a discharge diagnosis code for all-cause gastroenteritis.

Comparative Postmarket Safety Profile of Adjuvanted and High-Dose Influenza Vaccines in Individuals 65 Years or Older.

Importance: Every year, influenza vaccines are administered to millions of people worldwide to reduce morbidity and mortality from influenza. As new vaccine formulations are increasingly used, monitoring and comparing safety, in addition to vaccine effectiveness, in target populations are essential.

Objective: To assess the postmarketing safety profile of 2018 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccines, particularly 2 new enhanced trivalent inactivated influenza vaccines: an adjuvanted trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (aIIV3) and high-dose trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (HD-IIV3), among Australian individuals 65 years or older.

Association between rotavirus vaccination and intussusception in Australian children: A record linkage study.

Background: Post-licensure surveillance studies have shown a small but increased risk of intussusception among infants in the days following rotavirus vaccination (RV).

Objectives: We assessed the temporal trends of intussusception-coded hospitalisations before and after the commencement of a universal rotavirus vaccination programme in Western Australia (WA) in 2007. We also assessed the perinatal factors and pathogens associated with these hospitalisations.

Timeliness of signal detection for adverse events following influenza vaccination in young children: a simulation case study.

Objectives: To determine how soon after commencement of the seasonal influenza vaccination programme, the AusVaxSafety active vaccine safety surveillance system, currently in use across Australia, would have detected a safety signal had it been operating in 2010 when there was an unprecedented number of febrile seizures in young children associated with one specific influenza vaccine brand, Fluvax (CSL Biotherapies).

Design: Simulation study.

Setting: Western Australian vaccine influenza coverage and adverse event surveillance data.

Assessing the Burden of Laboratory-Confirmed Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in a Population Cohort of Australian Children Through Record Linkage.

Background: Significant progress has been made towards an effective respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. Age-stratified estimates of RSV burden are urgently needed for vaccine implementation. Current estimates are limited to small cohorts or clinical coding data only.