Publications by authors named "Kathryn J Britton"
Article Synopsis
- Pneumonia is a major cause of death for young children worldwide, particularly in Papua New Guinea, prompting a study to identify clinical predictors of hypoxic pneumonia.
- The study involved observing 2067 children aged 0-4 with pneumonia, revealing that hypoxia was present in 36.1%, with key indicators including central cyanosis, reduced breath sounds, and nasal flaring.
- While the new predictive model was better than existing criteria, it still had limitations, highlighting the need for pulse oximeters in healthcare settings and the importance of certain clinical signs for managing severe cases without them.
Background: Children in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are at high risk of pneumococcal infections. We investigated pneumococcal carriage rates, serotype distribution, and antimicrobial susceptibility in PNG children after vaccination with 10-valent or 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV10; PCV13).
Methods: Infants (N = 262) were randomized to receive 3 doses of PCV10 or PCV13 at 1-2-3 months of age, followed by pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination (PPV) or no PPV at 9 months of age.
Background: Pneumonia is a leading cause of childhood mortality with a major contributor. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have been introduced into immunisation programs in many low- to middle-income countries (LMICs) yet there is a paucity of data evaluating the effectiveness in these settings. We assess the effectiveness of 13-valent PCV (13vPCV) against hypoxic pneumonia, hospitalisation and other clinical endpoints in children <5 years living in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Papua New Guinea (PNG) introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2014, with administration at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. PCV13 has reduced or eliminated carriage of vaccine types in populations with low pneumococcal carriage prevalence, carriage density and serotype diversity. This study investigated PCV13 impact on serotype-specific pneumococcal carriage prevalence, density, and serotype diversity in PNG infants, who have some of the highest reported rates of pneumococcal carriage and disease in the world.
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