Impact of parent-reported antibiotic allergies on paediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs.

Background: Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) is crucial for optimising antimicrobial use and restraining emergence of antimicrobial resistance. The overall increase in reported antibiotic allergies in children can pose a significant barrier to AMS, but its impact on clinical AMS care in children has not been addressed.

Objective: Compare the clinical outcomes for children with a reported antibiotic allergy label (AAL) with those with no AAL reviewed by AMS.

Echocardiographic predictors of surgical outcomes in pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum and development of a discriminatory calculator: an Australian tertiary institution experience.

Introduction: Pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum is a rare congenital cardiac lesion with significant anatomical heterogeneity. Surgical planning of borderline cases remains challenging and is primarily based on echocardiography. The aim was to identify echocardiographic parameters that correlate with surgical outcome and to develop a discriminatory calculator.

Anaphylactic Reactions During Bee Venom Immunotherapy in the Paediatric Population.

Aim: A retrospective study will review episodes of anaphylaxis during bee venom immunotherapy (BVIT) in children, any modifications made to the dosing schedule, and the subsequent outcomes over a nine-year period in Western Australia.

Methods: Patient demographics, dose eliciting anaphylaxis during BVIT, modifications made to BVIT regimen following anaphylaxis (i.e.

A Small Device May Deliver King-Sized Solutions for Patients With an Exacerbation of Cystic Fibrosis.

The aim is to examine whether using a portable spring-infusor device to deliver antibiotics compared with a standard infusion pump (SIP) translated to (i) improve health outcomes, (ii) reduce the length of stay (LoS), and (iii) reduce cost for treatment of exacerbations of cystic fibrosis (CF). An observational cohort study was conducted between December 2020 and June 2022 with participants aged 8-19 years admitted for exacerbation of CF. An activity monitor was fitted to participants to measure physical activities for the final 5 days of hospital admission.

Vincristine Induced Adverse Effects in Lymphoma Bearing Dogs With Asymptomatic Neutropenia at the Time of Drug Administration.

Vincristine sulphate, a microtubule inhibitor, is used extensively in veterinary oncology for treating lymphoma. Neutropenia during multiagent protocols is a common reason for treatment delay and reduced dose intensity. This study evaluated toxicities associated with treating systemically well neutropenic lymphoma patients with vincristine.

Higher maternal bread and thiamine intakes are associated with increased infant allergic disease.

Background: A mother's diet during pregnancy may influence her infant's immune development. However, as potential interactions between components of our dietary intakes can make any nutritional analysis complex, here we took a multi-component dietary analysis approach.

Methods: Nutritional intake data was collected from 639 pregnant women using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire to reflect their dietary intakes during 32-36 weeks of gestation.

Introducing a new special section-Indigenous Science and Practice in Ecology and Evolution.

Editorial introducing a new special issue in the journal.

Study of pediatric appendicitis scores and management strategies: A prospective observational feasibility study.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the feasibility of prospectively validating multiple clinical prediction scores (CPSs) for pediatric appendicitis in an Australian pediatric emergency department (ED).

Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify potential CPSs and a single-center prospective observational feasibility study was performed between November 2022 and May 2023 to evaluate the performance of identified CPSs. Children 5-15 years presenting with acute right-sided or generalized abdominal pain and clinician suspicion of appendicitis were included.

PyDesigner v1.0: A Pythonic Implementation of the DESIGNER Pipeline for Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

PyDesigner is a Python-based software package based on the original Diffusion parameter EStImation with Gibbs and NoisE Removal (DESIGNER) pipeline (Dv1) for dMRI preprocessing and tensor estimation. This software is openly provided for non-commercial research and may not be used for clinical care. PyDesigner combines tools from FSL and MRtrix3 to perform denoising, Gibbs ringing correction, eddy current motion correction, brain masking, image smoothing, and Rician bias correction to optimize the estimation of multiple diffusion measures.

Early versus late parenteral nutrition in term and late preterm infants: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: There is limited evidence regarding the optimal time to commence parenteral nutrition (PN) in term and late preterm infants.

Design: Single-centre, non-blinded, exploratory randomised controlled trial.

Setting: A level-3 neonatal unit in a stand-alone paediatric hospital.

Severe Electrolyte Abnormalities and Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis in the Setting of Apremilast Use for Psoriatic Arthritis: A Case Report.

Renal tubular acidosis (RTA) involves dysfunction of the renal tubular system, which leads to electrolyte abnormalities and acid-base dysregulation. The case we present here discusses a patient with a past medical history of psoriatic arthritis who presented to the emergency department with progressive generalized weakness and anorexia in the preceding four weeks. She was found to have profound hypokalemia (1.

Is Social Media Here to Stay?: Survey Results Indicate Increasing Pathologist Interest and Engagement Over Time.

Context.—: Social media has become widely adopted by pathologists and other physicians for professional purposes. While engagement has likely increased over time, there remain few concrete data regarding attitudes toward its use.

The epidemiology of superficial Streptococcal A (impetigo and pharyngitis) infections in Australia: A systematic review.

Background: Streptoccocal A (Strep A, GAS) infections in Australia are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality through both invasive (iGAS) and post-streptococcal (postGAS) diseases as well as preceding superficial (sGAS) skin and throat infection. The burden of iGAS and postGAS are addressed in some jurisdictions by mandatory notification systems; in contrast, the burden of preceding sGAS has no reporting structure, and is less well defined. This review provides valuable, contemporaneous evidence on the epidemiology of sGAS presentations in Australia, informing preventative health projects such as a Streptococcal A vaccine and standardisation of primary care notification.

Impact of ventilation tube insertion on long-term language outcomes at 6 and 10 years of age: A prospective pregnancy cohort study.

Objective: Investigating the impact of early childhood ventilation tube insertion (VTI) on long-term language outcomes.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting: A total of 2900 pregnant women participated in the Raine Study between 1989 and 1991 in Western Australia, and 2868 children have been followed up.

A Review of Cardiac Surgical Procedures and Their Outcomes for Paediatric Rheumatic Heart Disease in Western Australia.

Introduction: Surgical intervention is an important treatment modality for advanced rheumatic heart disease (RHD). This study aimed to describe patient characteristics and outcomes from cardiac surgery for RHD in patients referred to the only tertiary paediatric hospital in Western Australia.

Methods: An analysis of patient characteristics and cardiac surgery outcomes in patients with RHD was undertaken, using data from clinical cardiac databases, medical notes, and correspondence from rural outreach clinics.

"Alone in the dark": A qualitative study of treatment experiences among young adults with a recent concussion and anxiety.

Purpose: Young adults with anxiety are vulnerable to developing persistent symptoms following concussions. In order to develop psychosocial interventions to prevent persistent post-concussion symptoms, we need to understand patients' 1) experiences with treatments offered by health care providers; 2) experiences with attempted concussion management strategies; and 3) needs after their injury.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 17 young adults with recent (≤ 10 weeks) concussions who have at least mild anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 ≥ 5).

Evaluation of the implementation and clinical effects of an intervention to improve medical follow-up and health outcomes for Aboriginal children hospitalised with chest infections.

Background: Aboriginal children hospitalised with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are at-risk of developing bronchiectasis, which can progress from untreated protracted bacterial bronchitis, often evidenced by a chronic (>4 weeks) wet cough following discharge. We aimed to facilitate follow-up for Aboriginal children hospitalised with ALRIs to provide optimal management and improve their respiratory health outcomes.

Methods: We implemented an intervention to facilitate medical follow-up four weeks after hospital discharge from a paediatric hospital in Western Australia.

Current parenteral nutrition practice and clinical outcomes of term and late preterm infants: A retrospective study.

Background And Aims: Limited studies have described parenteral nutrition (PN) practices and clinical outcomes in term and late preterm infants. The aim of this study was to describe the current practice of PN in term and late preterm infants and their short-term clinical outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study in a tertiary NICU between October 2018 and September 2019.

The association between otitis media in early childhood with later behaviour and attention problems: A longitudinal pregnancy cohort.

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the association between an early history of recurrent otitis media (OM) with or without ventilation tube insertion (VTI) and later behavioural problems in childhood and adolescence.

Methods: Parental reports in a longitudinal pregnancy cohort were used to classify children into three groups; recurrent OM without VTI (rOM group; n = 276), recurrent OM with VTI (VTI group; n = 62), and no history of early-life recurrent OM as a reference group (n = 1485). The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) was administered at ages 5, 8, 10, and 13 years and data were analysed for psychological wellbeing.

A Single-Centre Retrospective Review of Modified Blalock-Taussig Shunts: A 22-Year Experience.

Introduction: This single-centre retrospective study explores demographics and outcomes of patients who underwent a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt (MBTS) over a 22-year period. The predominant surgical approach in this study is a lateral thoracotomy, in contrast to a midline sternotomy. Risks and outcomes of this approach are compared with national and international literature.

Fiber Ball White Matter Modeling Reveals Microstructural Alterations in Healthy Brain Aging.

Age-related white matter degeneration is characterized by myelin breakdown and neuronal fiber loss that preferentially occur in regions that myelinate later in development. Conventional diffusion MRI (dMRI) has demonstrated age-related increases in diffusivity but provide limited information regarding the tissue-specific changes driving these effects. A recently developed dMRI biophysical modeling technique, Fiber Ball White Matter (FBWM) modeling, offers enhanced biological interpretability by estimating microstructural properties specific to the intra-axonal and extra-axonal spaces.