Over 5 days, 120 schoolchildren from two schools in the remote Kimberley region of Australia were screened for Strep A pharyngitis. Molecular point-of-care testing identified Strep A pharyngitis in 13/18 (72.2%) symptomatic children. The portability and feasibility of molecular point-of-care testing was highly practical for remote settings. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• December 2020

Itraconazole remains a first-line antifungal agent for certain fungal infections in children, including allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and sporotrichosis, but poor attainment of therapeutic drug levels is frequently observed with available oral formulations. A formulation of 'SUper BioAvailability itraconazole' (SUBA-itraconazole; Lozanoc®) has been developed, with adult studies demonstrating rapid and reliable attainment of therapeutic levels, yet paediatric data are lacking. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2021
• January 2021

Exome sequencing has enabled molecular diagnoses for rare disease patients but often with initial diagnostic rates of ~25-30%. Here we develop a robust computational pipeline to rank variants for reassessment of unsolved rare disease patients. A comprehensive web-based patient report is generated in which all deleterious variants can be filtered by gene, variant characteristics, OMIM disease and Phenolyzer scores, and all are annotated with an ACMG classification and links to ClinVar. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• December 2020

Exome sequencing is widely used in the diagnosis of rare genetic diseases and provides useful variant data for analysis of complex diseases. There is not always adequate population-specific reference data to assist in assigning a diagnostic variant to a specific clinical condition. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

At the end of a 60-day course of narrowband UVB phototherapy, administered to individuals with early multiple sclerosis, there were changes in the relative proportions of circulating B-cell subsets. This study investigated phototherapy-associated changes to cytokine responses of B cells when exposed to a TLR7 ligand. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

During a pandemic when hospitals are stretched and patients need isolation, the role of hospital-in-the-home (HITH) providing acute medical care at home has never been more relevant. We aimed to define and address the challenges to acute home care services posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

To assess the scale of ethnic inequalities in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rates and quantify the contribution of maternal characteristics to these disparities. This is a retrospective cohort study. A whole-of-population linked administrative data from 2002 to 2015 in Western Australia. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• November 2020

Otitis media is very common in Aboriginal children in Western Australia and chronic ear disease causes major problems in speech and language development and education. Up until recently, most programmes dealing with the problem of OM have focused on clinical interventions rather than prevention. The Enhanced Prevention Working Group was established as part of the WA Child Ear Health Strategy (2017–2021). The Group has worked collaboratively to develop a set of recommendations for prevention of OM in Aboriginal children. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

Background: β-lactam antibiotics are associated with a variety of immune-mediated or hypersensitivity reactions, including immediate (type I) reactions mediated by antigen-specific IgE. Objective: We sought to identify genetic predisposing factors for immediate reactions to β-lactam antibiotics. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

The advent of modern "omics" technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) are attributed to innovative breakthroughs in genome sequencing, bioinformatics, and analytic tools. An organism's biological structure and function is the result of the concerted action of single cells in different tissues. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• October 2020

We have demonstrated the potential use of Bayesian Networks in improving antibiotic selection for children with osteomyelitis ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• July 2020

The bone marrow microenvironment (BMM) plays a key role in leukemia progression, but its molecular complexity in pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL), the most common cancer in children, remains poorly understood. To gain further insight, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the kinetics of the murine BMM during B-ALL progression. ...

• 1. Telethon Kids Institute
• Our research
• Reports and Findings
• 2020
• November 2020