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.

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.

The increasing healthcare burden of enteric fever in a low-incidence setting.

Objectives: Enteric fever carries appreciable morbidity in non-endemic settings, particularly in returned travelers. This study aimed to characterize the healthcare burden of enteric fever in a low-incidence setting and to identify risk factors and opportunities for preventative interventions.

Methods: Analysis of a retrospective case series from a tertiary pediatric center (2015-2019), augmented by public health notification and microbiological laboratory data (2018-2019), from Western Sydney, Australia, a region with frequent travel links to South Asia.

Risk Factors and Clinical Prognosis Associated With RSV-ALRI Intensive Care Unit Admission in Children <2 Years of Age: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) in children <2 years of age. Currently, there are limited data on risk factors for very severe RSV-ALRI requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study of children <2 years old admitted with RSV-ALRI to the Sydney Children's Hospital Network, comprising 2 large tertiary pediatric hospitals.

Early life parechovirus infection neuropsychological outcomes at 8 years: a cohort study.

Human parechovirus (HPeV) is a leading cause of Central Nervous System (CNS) infection in infancy. Despite this, little is known regarding the long-term neuropsychological impacts from HPeV infection. The aim of the present study was to explore the long-term neuropsychological impacts eight-year post-HPeV infection contracted during infancy.

Live vaccines following intravenous immunoglobulin for Kawasaki disease: Are we vaccinating appropriately?

Aim: Australian and New Zealand guidelines recommend that live vaccines be postponed for 11 months after treatment of Kawasaki disease (KD) with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). We aimed to describe patterns of live-vaccine administration after KD treatment, focusing on the measles-mumps-rubella/measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMR/MMRV) vaccines, and to compare real-world practice with current recommendations.

Methods: We combined data from inpatient Electronic Health Records and the Australian Immunisation Register for all children who received IVIG for the treatment of KD under the age of 5 years at two Australian tertiary children's hospitals over a 12-year period.

Post-Natal Anti-Retroviral Prophylaxis for Neonates Born to Mothers Living with Resistant HIV Infection.

Mother-to-child transmission accounts for the majority of new HIV infections among children worldwide. Post-natal prophylaxis, in addition to other preventive measures, have been very successful in reducing transmission to babies born to mothers living with HIV infection to <2%. Single-drug prophylaxis with zidovudine is the mainstay regimen for infants in low-risk transmission settings.

A decision support tool for risk-benefit analysis of Japanese encephalitis vaccine in travellers.

Background: During pre-travel consultations, clinicians and travellers face the challenge of weighing the risks verus benefits of Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccination due to the high cost of the vaccine, low incidence in travellers (~1 in 1 million), but potentially severe consequences (~30% case-fatality rate). Personalised JE risk assessment based on the travellers' demographics and travel itinerary is challenging using standard risk matrices. We developed an interactive digital tool to estimate risks of JE infection and severe health outcomes under different scenarios to facilitate shared decision-making between clinicians and travellers.

Unintended impacts of COVID-19 on the epidemiology and burden of paediatric respiratory infections.

Acute respiratory infections (ARI), especially lower respiratory infections (LRI), are a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) employed during the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted on the epidemiology and burden of paediatric ARI, although accurately describing the full nature of the impact is challenging. For most ARI pathogens, a reduction was observed in the early phase of the pandemic, correlating with the most stringent NPI.

Timing of antibiotics in febrile children meeting sepsis criteria at a paediatric emergency department.

Objective: Delay in antibiotic administration in paediatric sepsis is associated with increased mortality and prolonged organ dysfunction. This pre-intervention study evaluated performance in paediatric sepsis management.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of febrile children admitted through the ED at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, between 1 May and 31 July 2017.

Infection and Vaccine Induced Spike Antibody Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in COVID-19-Naïve Children and Adults.

Although a more efficient adaptive humoral immune response has been proposed to underlie the usually favorable outcome of pediatric COVID-19, the breadth of viral and vaccine cross-reactivity toward the ever-mutating Spike protein among variants of concern (VOCs) has not yet been compared between children and adults. We assessed antibodies to conformational Spike in COVID-19-naïve children and adults vaccinated by BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1, and naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 Early Clade, Delta, and Omicron. Sera were analyzed against Spike including naturally occurring VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron BA.

Characteristics of neonatal herpes simplex central nervous system disease in Australia (1997-2020).

Background: Neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) central nervous system (CNS) disease can occur in isolation or as part of disseminated infection. We sought to describe neonatal HSV CNS disease in Australia over 24 years.

Methods: Neonates (≤28 days) with confirmed HSV infection, reported prospectively to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit (1997-2020), were evaluated for HSV CNS disease (laboratory confirmation with clinical evidence of encephalitis, e.

COVID-19 related ICU admissions in paediatric and young adult patients in Australia: a national case series 2020-2022.

Background: COVID-19 pandemic research efforts have focused on disease phenotypes in adults. A distinct spectrum of illness has been documented in paediatric populations. We aimed to review paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Australia, across differing variant predominant phases of the pandemic.

Corrigendum to "Lower risk of multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) with the Omicron variant" [The Lancet Regional Health - Western Pacific 27 (2022) 100604].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.