The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in Australian children: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Following reduction of public health and social measures concurrent with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron emergence in late 2021 in Australia, COVID-19 case notification rates rose rapidly. As rates of direct viral testing and reporting dropped, true infection rates were most likely to be underestimated.

Objective: To better understand infection rates and immunity in this population, we aimed to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Australians aged 0-19 years.

Real-world utilisation of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing to enable face-to-face learning in Australian schools, an ecological study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the use of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing of COVID-19 contacts in New South Wales schools to determine return to in-person school attendance instead of home quarantine, between 6 November and 21 December 2021.

Methods: COVID-19 school contacts were required to quarantine for two weeks postexposure to the case. Students who opted into daily rapid antigen testing logged their results in a database, prior to school attendance, and obtained SARS-CoV-2 nucleic amplification acid testing on day 12-16.

The seroprevalence of antibodies to Japanese encephalitis virus in five New South Wales towns at high risk of infection, 2022: a cross-sectional serosurvey.

Objectives: To determine the proportion of people in New South Wales towns at high risk of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infections during the 2022 outbreak; to identify risk factors for JEV infection.

Study Design: Cross-sectional serosurvey study of the seroprevalence of JEV-specific antibodies in NSW.

Setting, Participants: Convenience sample of people (all ages) from five regional NSW towns deemed to be at high risk of JEV infections after first outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in southeastern Australia in early 2022 (Balranald, Corowa, Dubbo, Griffith, Temora), 21 June - 22 July 2022.

Serosurvey for Japanese encephalitis virus antibodies following an outbreak in an immunologically naïve population, Victoria, 2022: a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: To investigate the distribution and prevalence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) antibody (as evidence of past infection) in northern Victoria following the 2022 Japanese encephalitis outbreak, seeking to identify groups of people at particular risk of infection; to investigate the distribution and prevalence of antibodies to two related flaviviruses, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV) and West Nile virus Kunjin subtype (KUNV).

Study Design: Cross-sectional serosurvey (part of a national JEV serosurveillance program).

Setting: Three northern Victorian local public health units (Ovens Murray, Goulburn Valley, Loddon Mallee), 8 August - 1 December 2022.

Seroprevalence of Japanese encephalitis virus-specific antibodies in Australia following novel epidemic spread: protocol for a national cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes encephalitis and other morbidity in Southeast Asia. Since February 2022, geographically dispersed JEV human, animal and vector detections occurred on the Australian mainland for the first time. This study will determine the prevalence of JEV-specific antibodies in human blood with a focus on populations at high risk of JEV exposure and determine risk factors associated with JEV seropositivity by location, age, occupation and other factors.

Australian vaccine preventable disease epidemiological review series: diphtheria 1999-2019.

Background: Diphtheria is rare in Australia, but an increasing number of cases have been notified in recent years. Alongside notifications from 1999 to 2019, we analysed other relevant national data sources to evaluate trends over the past two decades.

Methods: Diphtheria notifications (National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System [NNDSS]), hospitalisations (National Hospital Morbidity Database [NHMD]) and deaths (Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Coordinating Registry) were separately analysed by site of infection, age group, sex, state/territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, and vaccination status.

Australian vaccine preventable disease epidemiological review series: measles, 2012-2019.

Background: Data sources, relevant to measles epidemiology from 2012 to 2019, were reviewed in the context of Australia's certification, by the World Health Organization in 2014, of the elimination of measles.

Methods: Data on measles notifications, hospitalisations, and deaths were obtained from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, the National Hospital Morbidity Database, and the Australian Coordinating Registry. Data were analysed by age group, state/territory, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, genotype, place of acquisition, source of infection (importation status), and vaccination status.

Lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic: Why Australian schools should be prioritised to stay open.

In 2020, school and early childhood educational centre (ECEC) closures affected over 1.5 billion school-aged children globally as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Attendance at school and access to ECEC is critical to a child's learning, well-being and health.

Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Australian educational settings: a prospective cohort study.

Background: School closures have occurred globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, empiric data on transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among children and in educational settings are scarce. In Australia, most schools have remained open during the first epidemic wave, albeit with reduced student physical attendance at the epidemic peak.