Vibrio parahaemolyticus Foodborne Illness Associated with Oysters, Australia, 2021-2022.

The bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus is ubiquitous in tropical and temperate waters throughout the world and causes infections in humans resulting from water exposure and from ingestion of contaminated raw or undercooked seafood, such as oysters. We describe a nationwide outbreak of enteric infections caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in Australia during September 2021-January 2022. A total of 268 persons were linked with the outbreak, 97% of whom reported consuming Australia-grown oysters.

Effects of Stimulus Type on 16-kHz Detection Thresholds.

Objectives: Audiometric testing typically does not include frequencies above 8 kHz. However, recent research suggests that extended high-frequency (EHF) sensitivity could affect hearing in natural communication environments. Clinical assessment of hearing often employs pure tones and frequency-modulated (FM) tones interchangeably regardless of frequency.

Monitoring the incidence and causes of disease potentially transmitted by food in Australia: Annual report of the OzFoodNet network, 2016.

In 2016, a total of 44,455 notifications of enteric diseases potentially related to food were received by state and territory health departments in Australia. Consistent with previous years, campylobacteriosis (n = 24,171) and salmonellosis (n = 18,060) were the most frequently-notified infections. Notable increases in incidence were observed for shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (n = 343; 166% increase), shigellosis (n = 1,408; 93% increase), campylobacteriosis (33% increase) and salmonellosis (30% increase) when compared with the historical five-year mean.

Speech-in-Speech Recognition and Spatially Selective Attention in Children and Adults.

Purpose Knowing target location can improve adults' speech-in-speech recognition in complex auditory environments, but it is unknown whether young children listen selectively in space. This study evaluated masked word recognition with and without a pretrial cue to location to characterize the influence of listener age and masker type on the benefit of spatial cues. Method Participants were children (5-13 years of age) and adults with normal hearing.

Effects of Presentation Level on Spatial Hearing With and Without Bone-Conduction Amplification in Congenital Unilateral Aural Atresia.

Objective: This study assessed the effect of ipsilateral bone-conduction amplification on spatial hearing abilities in subjects with congenital unilateral aural atresia (CUAA).

Patients: Twelve patients with unilateral conductive hearing loss secondary to CUAA and normal hearing in the contralateral ear were tested. Most (75%) had limited experience with a bone-conduction hearing aid (BCHA).

Binaural Frequency Modulation Detection in School-Age Children, Young Adults, and Older Adults: Effects of Interaural Modulator Phase.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to measure low-rate binaural frequency modulation (FM) detection across the lifespan as a gauge of temporal fine structure processing. Children and older adults were expected to perform more poorly than young adults but for different reasons.

Design: Detection of 2-Hz FM carried by a 500-Hz pure tone was measured for modulators that were either in-phase or out-of-phase across ears.

The effect of COVID-19 public health measures on nationally notifiable diseases in Australia: preliminary analysis.

Since the introduction of COVID-19-related public health measures, notifications for most nationally notifiable diseases have declined when compared to previous years. Physical distancing, travel restrictions, and emphasis on hygiene are likely to have affected the number of expected notifications, with the greatest reductions observed among disease spread via person-to-person contact such as influenza, and among overseas-acquired infections such as dengue virus and measles. However, quantifying the magnitude of the effect of COVID-19 public health measures on communicable diseases in Australia will be difficult, due to confounding factors such as: changes in testing priorities in laboratories; diversion of resources to the COVID-19 response; changes in health-seeking behaviours; greater utilisation of telehealth practices; and financial impacts such as income loss and ability to afford healthcare.

Spatial Hearing as a Function of Presentation Level in Moderate-to-Severe Unilateral Conductive Hearing Loss.

Hypothesis: Patients with moderate-to-severe unilateral conductive hearing loss (UCHL) can make use of binaural difference cues when stimuli are presented at a high enough intensity to provide audibility in the affected ear.

Background: Spatial hearing is essential for listening in complex environments and sound source localization. Patients with UCHL have decreased access to binaural difference cues, resulting in poorer spatial hearing abilities compared with listeners with normal hearing.