Chronic suppurative lung disease (CSLD, including bronchiectasis), acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) and otitis media (OM) are major health problems affecting young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory. However, the microbial processes underlying the development and progression of these diseases are poorly understood. The studies described in the above tabs aim to improve understanding of these processes, leading to better treatment and intervention strategies.
Aims:
- To improve understanding of polymicrobial ear and lung infections in Indigenous children. Our multidisciplinary approach includes generation of biomedical outcomes for clinical trials (antibiotics, vaccines, hygiene interventions), researching interactions with the host (immunity and nutritional deficiencies), pathogenesis and population biology, and polymicrobial bacterial community analyses:
- Microbiology and molecular service providing laboratory analyses for ear and respiratory studies
- Ear and respiratory microbiology/virology
- Population biology and polymicrobial bacterial community analyses
- Host responses
- To work closely with clinicians to ensure our biomedical research is performed in ways that may be best translated to health outcomes.