Plays Independent Roles in Congenital Heart Disease and Neurodevelopmental Disability.

Up to 50% of patients with severe congenital heart disease (CHD) develop life-altering neurodevelopmental disability (NDD). It has been presumed that NDD arises in CHD cases because of hypoxia before, during, or after cardiac surgery. Recent studies detected an enrichment in de novo mutations in CHD and NDD, as well as significant overlap between CHD and NDD candidate genes.

COVID-19 and paediatric health services: A survey of paediatric physicians in Australia and New Zealand.

Aims: COVID-19 is now a global pandemic. At the time of survey, fewer than 150 children in Australia and New Zealand had documented infection. The aim of this study was to assess attitudes, readiness and confidence in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic through an online survey of paediatric physicians and sub-specialists across Australia and New Zealand.

Paediatric Buruli ulcer in Australia.

Aim: This study describes an Australian cohort of paediatric Buruli ulcer (BU) patients and compares them with adult BU patients.

Methods: Analysis of a prospective cohort of all BU cases managed at Barwon Health, Victoria, from 1 January 1998 to 31 May 2018 was performed. Children were defined as ≤15 years of age.

Cryptococcus gattii infection complicated by immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in three apparently immunocompetent children.

Background: Paediatric Cryptococcus gattii disease is rare, with only two previous cases recorded in the Northern Territory (NT) over the last 54 years. Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) is a recognised complication of C. gattii infection, even in the absence of an identified immunodeficiency syndrome; however, limited paediatric data exist.

Impact of Cerebrospinal Fluid Multiplex Assay on Diagnosis and Outcomes of Central Nervous System Infections in Children: A Before and After Cohort Study.

Background: This study evaluated the performance of cerebrospinal fluid multiplex assay in the diagnosis of pediatric central nervous system (CNS) infection, and assessed for the effect on clinical management.

Methods: A 15-month prospective cohort of pediatric patients with confirmed CNS infection was compared with a 15-month retrospective cohort from the Top End region of the Northern Territory, Australia. The study characterized all the CNS infections over the 30-month period and compared the time to organism identification and antibiotic management before and after the introduction of the multiplex assay.