Seroprevalence, incidence estimates, and environmental risk factors for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika infection amongst children living in informal urban settlements in Indonesia and Fiji.

Background: The burden of Aedes aegypti-transmitted viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are increasing globally, fueled by urbanization and climate change, with some of the highest current rates of transmission in Asia. Local factors in the built environment have the potential to exacerbate or mitigate transmission.

Methods: In 24 informal urban settlements in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji, we tested children under 5 years old for evidence of prior infection with dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses by IgG serology.

Use of metered dose inhalers for bronchodilator responsiveness testing: laboratory practices in Australia and opportunities for carbon footprint reduction.

Background: Metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are important devices for delivering inhaled medications; however, they have an outsized carbon footprint due to their propellant gas. Many short-acting beta-agonist inhalers contain HFA-134a which has a global warming potential >1000 fold higher than carbon dioxide. We aimed to determine the practices around MDI use and disposal within Australia's major lung function testing laboratories and identify the actions that most influence the carbon footprint of bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) testing.

The epidemiology of notifiable diseases in Australia and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2012-2022.

Background: Infectious disease surveillance tracks disease epidemiology and informs prevention and control. Public health measures implemented in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020 to 2022) affected infectious disease epidemiology. We examined notifiable disease epidemiology in Australia from 2012 to 2022, evaluating disease trends and pandemic impacts.

Seroprevalence, incidence estimates, and environmental risk factors for dengue, chikungunya, and Zika infection amongst children living in informal urban settlements in Indonesia and Fiji.

Background: The burden of -transmitted viruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are increasing globally, fueled by urbanization and climate change, with some of the highest current rates of transmission in Asia. Local factors in the built environment have the potential to exacerbate or mitigate transmission.

Methods: In 24 informal urban settlements in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji, we tested children under 5 years old for evidence of prior infection with dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses by IgG serology.

Integrating planetary health education into tertiary curricula: a practical toolbox for implementation.

Objective: To present a series of case studies from our respective countries and disciplines on approaches to implementing the Planetary Health Education Framework in university health professional education programs, and to propose a curriculum implementation and evaluation toolbox for educators to facilitate the adoption of similar initiatives in their programs. We emphasize the importance of applying an Indigenous lens to curriculum needs assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation.

Methods: Case studies from Australia and United States were collated using a six-stage design-based educational research framework (Focus, Formulation, Contextualization, Definition, Implementation, Evaluation) for teaching planetary health and methods of curriculum evaluation.

Dengue fever in immunocompromised patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Given the complex role of immunity in dengue severity, we aimed to review the clinical course of dengue infection in immunocompromised patients.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies reporting outcomes among immunocompromised patients with laboratory-confirmed dengue infection. Meta-analysis using the Mantel-Haenszel method (fixed effects) was performed for studies with control groups.

Travel-associated illness in children in pre-pandemic Western Sydney, 2018-2020.

Unlabelled: Objectives and importance of study: Australian children frequently travel overseas, but little is known about their travel-related morbidity. We aimed to describe the spectrum of illness and injury in returned travellers presenting to the largest paediatric referral centre in NSW, the Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW).

Study Type: Observational cohort study.

Parameter estimation from single patient, single time-point sequencing data of recurrent tumors.

In this study, we develop consistent estimators for key parameters that govern the dynamics of tumor cell populations when subjected to pharmacological treatments. While these treatments often lead to an initial reduction in the abundance of drug-sensitive cells, a population of drug-resistant cells frequently emerges over time, resulting in cancer recurrence. Samples from recurrent tumors present as an invaluable data source that can offer crucial insights into the ability of cancer cells to adapt and withstand treatment interventions.

Responsible north-south research and innovation: A framework for transdisciplinary research leadership and management.

The number, scale and ambition of transdisciplinary research initiatives between the global north and the global south is increasing, yet there is very little theoretical or empirical scholarship on how to lead and manage implementation to promote responsible practice. Within science, technology and innovation (STI) studies and decolonising research frameworks, and utilising collaborative autoethnography, this study codifies experience with implementing the 'Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments' (RISE) program (2017-2020). Our specific aim is to explore the leadership and management tensions and challenges of implementing transboundary transdisciplinary research.

Early ctDNA kinetics as a dynamic biomarker of cancer treatment response.

Circulating tumor DNA assays are promising tools for the prediction of cancer treatment response. Here, we build a framework for the design of ctDNA biomarkers of therapy response that incorporate variations in ctDNA dynamics driven by specific treatment mechanisms. We develop mathematical models of ctDNA kinetics driven by tumor response to several therapy classes, and utilize them to simulate randomized virtual patient cohorts to test candidate biomarkers.

Patient characteristics and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in international travellers: a GeoSentinel analysis.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis, with Enterobacterales including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae playing significant roles. While international travel to low- and middle-income countries is linked to colonisation with AMR Enterobacterales, the clinical implications, particularly the risk of subsequent infection, remain unclear due to limited data. We aimed to characterise E.

Using birth-death processes to infer tumor subpopulation structure from live-cell imaging drug screening data.

Tumor heterogeneity is a complex and widely recognized trait that poses significant challenges in developing effective cancer therapies. In particular, many tumors harbor a variety of subpopulations with distinct therapeutic response characteristics. Characterizing this heterogeneity by determining the subpopulation structure within a tumor enables more precise and successful treatment strategies.

Intestinal protozoa in returning travellers: a GeoSentinel analysis from 2007 to 2019.

Background: Prolonged diarrhoea is common amongst returning travellers and is often caused by intestinal protozoa. However, the epidemiology of travel-associated illness caused by protozoal pathogens is not well described.

Methods: We analysed records of returning international travellers with illness caused by Giardia duodenalis, Cryptosporidium spp.

The epidemiology of imported and locally acquired dengue in Australia, 2012-2022.

Background: Dengue is the most important arboviral disease globally and poses ongoing challenges for control including in non-endemic countries with competent mosquito vectors at risk of local transmission through imported cases. We examined recent epidemiological trends in imported and locally acquired dengue in Australia, where the Wolbachia mosquito population replacement method was implemented throughout dengue-prone areas of northern Queensland between 2011 and 2019.

Methods: We analysed dengue cases reported to the Australian National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System between January 2012 and December 2022, and Australian traveller movement data.

Chikungunya infection in returned travellers: results from the geosentinel network, 2005-2020.

Background: Chikungunya is an important travel-related disease because of its rapid geographical expansion and potential for prolonged morbidity. Improved understanding of the epidemiology of travel-related chikungunya infections may influence prevention strategies including education and vaccination.

Methods: We analysed data from travellers with confirmed or probable chikungunya reported to GeoSentinel sites from 2005 to 2020.

Imported malaria into Australia: surveillance insights and opportunities.

Background: Malaria continues to pose a significant burden in endemic countries, many of which lack access to molecular surveillance. Insights from malaria cases in travellers returning to non-endemic areas can provide valuable data to inform endemic country programmes. To evaluate the potential for novel global insights into malaria, we examined epidemiological and molecular data from imported malaria cases to Australia.

Workers' compensation claims for COVID-19 among workers in healthcare and other industries during 2020-2022, Victoria, Australia.

Objective: To identify and characterise COVID-19 workers' compensation claims in healthcare and other industries during the pandemic in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: We used workers' compensation claims identified as COVID-19 infection related from 1 January 2020 to 31 July 2022 to compare COVID-19 infection claims and rates of claims by industry and occupation, and in relation to Victorian COVID-19 epidemiology. A Cox proportional hazards model assessed risk factors for extended claim duration.

Excess mortality among people with communicable diseases over a 30-year period, Victoria, Australia: a whole of population cohort study.

Background: Understanding mortality burden associated with communicable diseases is key to informing resource allocation, disease prevention and control efforts, and evaluating public health interventions. We quantified excess mortality among people notified with communicable diseases in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: Cases of communicable disease notified in Victoria between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2021 were linked to the death registry.

Workplace leave patterns among Victorian health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We analysed aggregate work absences during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from two Victorian hospital sites and corresponding individual-level survey data to understand changes in the rates and types of workplace absence. We found changing reasons for workplace absences as the pandemic progressed and observed higher rates of annual and sick leave during the months coinciding with increased COVID-19 cases and workforce burnout.

Limit theorems for the site frequency spectrum of neutral mutations in an exponentially growing population.

The site frequency spectrum (SFS) is a widely used summary statistic of genomic data. Motivated by recent evidence for the role of neutral evolution in cancer, we investigate the SFS of neutral mutations in an exponentially growing population. Using branching process techniques, we establish (first-order) almost sure convergence results for the SFS of a Galton-Watson process, evaluated either at a fixed time or at the stochastic time at which the population first reaches a certain size.