The Platform Trial In COVID-19 priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO): The immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of licensed COVID-19 vaccinations administered as a second booster in BNT162b2 primed individuals aged 18-<50 and 50-<70 years old.

Objectives: PICOBOO is a randomised, adaptive trial evaluating the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of COVID-19 booster strategies. Here, we present data for second boosters among individuals aged 18-<50 and 50-<70 years old primed with BNT162b2 until Day (D) 84.

Methods: Immunocompetent adults who had received two doses of BNT162b2 and any licensed COVID-19 booster at least three months prior were eligible.

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 Platform Trial In COVID-19 Priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO): The immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of different COVID-19 vaccinations administered as a second booster (fourth dose) in AZD1222 primed individuals aged 50-<70 years old.

Objectives: PICOBOO is a randomised, adaptive trial evaluating the immunogenicity, reactogenicity, and safety of COVID-19 booster strategies. We report data for second boosters among individuals 50-<70 years old primed with AZD1222 (50-<70y-AZD1222) until Day 84.

Methods: Immunocompetent adults who received any first booster ≥three months prior were eligible.

Longitudinal genomic analysis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae transmission dynamics in Australia.

N. gonorrhoeae, which causes the sexually transmissible infection gonorrhoea, remains a significant public health threat globally, with challenges posed by increasing transmission and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The COVID-19 pandemic introduced exceptional circumstances into communicable disease control, impacting the transmission of gonorrhoea and other infectious diseases.

Population pharmacokinetics of unbound cefazolin in infected hospitalized patients requiring intermittent high-flux haemodialysis: can a three-times-weekly post-dialysis dosing regimen provide optimal treatment?

Objectives: To describe the population pharmacokinetics of cefazolin in infected hospitalized patients requiring intermittent haemodialysis (IHD).

Methods: This prospective population pharmacokinetic study was conducted in IHD patients prescribed cefazolin 2 g three times weekly. Plasma samples were collected at prespecified timepoints and assayed for total and unbound concentrations using validated LC.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors in infectious disease.

Following success in cancer immunotherapy, immune checkpoint blockade is emerging as an exciting potential treatment for some infectious diseases, specifically two chronic viral infections, HIV and hepatitis B. Here, we will discuss the function of immune checkpoints, their role in infectious disease pathology, and the ability of immune checkpoint blockade to reinvigorate the immune response. We focus on blockade of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) to induce durable immune-mediated control of HIV, given that anti-PD-1 can restore function to exhausted HIV-specific T cells and also reverse HIV latency, a long-lived form of viral infection.

A model-based assessment of social isolation practices for COVID-19 outbreak response in residential care facilities.

Background: Residential aged-care facilities (RACFs, also called long-term care facilities, aged care homes, or nursing homes) have elevated risks of respiratory infection outbreaks and associated disease burden. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social isolation policies were commonly used in these facilities to prevent and mitigate outbreaks. We refer specifically to general isolation policies that were intended to reduce contact between residents, without regard to confirmed infection status.

The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network Supports High-Quality Surveillance.

With 762 laboratories, the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN) is the largest laboratory network coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Like the Global Polio Laboratory Network, the GMRLN has multiple tiers, including global specialized laboratories, regional reference laboratories, national laboratories, and, in some countries, subnational laboratories. Regional networks are supervised by regional laboratory coordinators reporting to a global coordinator at WHO headquarters.

Outcomes of Antiviral Retreatment for Immunocompromised Hosts With Prolonged Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Polymerase Chain Reaction Positivity: A Multicenter Australian Retrospective Case Series.

Outcomes are presented for a multisite retrospective case series, describing a contemporary cohort of 22 immunocompromised patients with persistent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) polymerase chain reaction positivity who were retreated with antiviral therapy. For those with data available 14 and 30 days after commencement of antiviral therapy, 41% (9 of 22) and 68% (15 of 22), respectively, cleared COVID-19.

Impact of alemtuzumab-mediated lymphocyte depletion on SIV reservoir establishment and persistence.

Persistence of the rebound-competent viral reservoir (RCVR) within the CD4+ T cell compartment of people living with HIV remains a major barrier to HIV cure. Here, we determined the effects of the pan-lymphocyte-depleting monoclonal antibody (mAb) alemtuzumab on the RCVR in SIVmac239-infected rhesus macaques (RM) receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Alemtuzumab administered during chronic ART or at the time of ART initiation induced >95% depletion of circulating CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood and substantial CD4+ T cell depletion in lymph nodes.

Lower Rates of Bloodstream Infection in Patients on Hemodialysis Receiving Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole Melioidosis Prophylaxis.

Hemodialysis is a risk factor for bloodstream infection (SAB). In this single-center study, SAB rates were 56% lower during the monsoonal wet season when patients on hemodialysis receive supervised melioidosis prophylaxis with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This intervention may reduce SAB rates in high-risk patients; however, further targeted studies are required.

Protocol for measuring killing capacity and intracellular cytokine production of human HIV antigen-specific CD8 T cells using flow cytometry.

Here, we present a protocol to evaluate the killing capacity and functional profile of human HIV-specific CD8 T cells. We describe steps for culturing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with HIV peptides ex vivo and quantifying HIV-specific CD8 T cell killing using flow cytometry. We then detail procedures for integrating the established killing assay with intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) and assessing CD8 T cell function.

HIV transcription persists in the brain of virally suppressed people with HIV.

HIV persistence in the brain is a barrier to cure, and potentially contributes to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Whether HIV transcription persists in the brain despite viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy (ART) and is subject to the same blocks to transcription seen in other tissues and blood, is unclear. Here, we quantified the level of HIV transcripts in frontal cortex tissue from virally suppressed or non-virally suppressed people with HIV (PWH).

Optimising nucleic acid recovery from rapid antigen tests for whole genome sequencing of respiratory viruses.

Background: Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of respiratory viruses from rapid antigen tests (RAT-WGS) is a novel approach to expanding genomic surveillance of respiratory infections. To date however, there are limited data on the genomic stability of these viruses on RATs. In this study, we investigated the effect of storage conditions and nucleic acid preservatives on the ability to enhance stability and improve recovery of respiratory virus genomes from RATs.

Characterising HIV-1 transmission in Victoria, Australia: a molecular epidemiological study.

Background: In Australia the incidence of HIV has declined steadily, yet sustained reduction of HIV transmission in this setting requires improved public health responses. As enhanced public health responses and prioritisation of resources may be guided by molecular epidemiological data, here we aimed to assess the applicability of these approaches in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: A comprehensive collection of HIV-1 sequences from individuals diagnosed with HIV in Victoria, Australia, between January 1st 2000 and December 31st 2020 were deidentified and used as the basis of our assessment.

Uncovering strain- and age-dependent innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection in air-liquid-interface cultured nasal epithelia.

Continuous assessment of the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the host at the cell-type level is crucial for understanding key mechanisms involved in host defense responses to viral infection. We investigated host response to ancestral-strain and Alpha-variant SARS-CoV-2 infections within air-liquid-interface human nasal epithelial cells from younger adults (26-32 Y) and older children (12-14 Y) using single-cell RNA-sequencing. Ciliated and secretory-ciliated cells formed the majority of highly infected cell-types, with the latter derived from ciliated lineages.

subsp. infection and its intersection with .

SUMMARY subsp. (SDSE) is an increasingly recognized cause of disease in humans. Disease manifestations range from non-invasive superficial skin and soft tissue infections to life-threatening streptococcal toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis.