Tropical Diseases
Prevent and control infectious diseases that affect children and their families in disadvantaged communities.
Our group is a multi-disciplinary research team, combined with active programs whose focus is on understanding and preventing infectious diseases that affect children and their families in disadvantaged communities.
Our focus
We conduct research and programs across three main areas:
- Prevention of Strep A infection, including vaccine advancement and development
- Control of scabies and other neglected tropical diseases
- Prevention and control of rheumatic heart disease
The group views collaboration as central to conducting impactful projects and is involved in several collaborations, including as a WHO Collaboration Centre for Scabies Control.
Our impact
Our research and programs will allow children to achieve their full potential by preventing and controlling infectious diseases that limit their ability to attend school and have healthy, active lives in their community.
More information
Group Leaders
Team Leaders
Group Members
Our projects
World Scabies Program
The World Scabies Program is dedicated to reducing the impact of scabies and its complications on children and families using public health approaches that target whole populations. We work collaboratively with other stakeholders and countries to raise awareness of scabies as a public health problem and contribute to the mapping of global populations affected by scabies.
Read more...Strep A Controlled Human Infection Model
Description: Leading a multinational team, the group developed the world’s only controlled human infection model of Strep A pharyngitis (‘strep throat’), safely causing convincing strep throat in healthy adult volunteers and building a valuable collection of throat swabs, blood, and saliva samples to drive detailed microbiology and immunology studies. The group is now using the model as a platform for randomised controlled vaccine human challenge trials to speed up the development of Strep A vaccines, and drugs, and for exciting studies of host-pathogen interactions.
Invasive Group A Surveillance
Invasive Strep A infection is a medical emergency in children. More than a third of children with this disease require mechanical ventilation and inotropic support. Also, invasive Strep A infection had comparable mortality ratios to Meningococcal disease before introducing the meningococcus vaccine. The group with partners, established paediatric surveillance for invasive Strep A infection at the RCH in 2014, expanding surveillance to multiple paediatric centres across Australia in 2017. The group is driving efforts to create a national invasive Strep A infection surveillance system to improve short and long-term outcomes.
Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative (ASAVI)
The Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative (ASAVI) is an Australian-led global initiative to reduce the disease burden caused by Strep A infections through effective vaccination. ASAVI is a partnership between Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and Telethon Kids Institute (TKI) and has a project team based across three locations in Melbourne and Perth. ASAVI’s main aim is to speed up the development of a lead Strep A vaccine candidate through early clinical development and to show the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in a phase 2b clinical trial in pharyngitis.
Establishment of Registers for Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease in Victoria
This project aims to establish a register within Victoria that will provide health professionals within the state with up-to-date models of care and prevention for acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Registers in other states have already shown their value by supporting health professionals in providing essential preventative actions and regular follow-up to patients and helping family members in the treatment of their children. The register will draw on years of lessons learnt from other jurisdictions to ensure the final product available to Victorian health professionals is the Gold Standard in Australia.
Fiji Islands Rheumatic Heart Disease Control and Prevention
In collaboration with the Fiji Ministry of Health, Cure Kids New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Zealand, this project aims to facilitate the expansion and strengthening of the existing Fiji Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program. The project aims to strengthen the evidence-based models of care and prevention for acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Within the project, MCRI will roll out the Fiji Acute Sore Throat Surveillance to determine the accuracy of the Fiji Clinical Decision Rule for treating Strep A Pharyngitis, the major cause of acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
Collaborative project
International Alliance for the Control of Scabies Inc. (IACS)
The International Alliance for the Control of Scabies is an international association currently led by the group, bringing together researchers, clinicians and public health experts whose aim is the control and eradication of scabies. The Alliance aims to achieve this by advocating through different national and international partners/organisations, developing and providing up-to-date evidence for the control and potential elimination of scabies.
The Lancefield Society
The Lancefield Society is an international association currently led by the group that brings together professionals in streptococci and streptococcal diseases to raise awareness, promote scientific collaboration and research, and improve diagnosis, prevention and treatment.
Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium (SAVAC)
Led by MCRI Tropical Diseases and the International Vaccine Institute (Korea) the mission of the Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium (SAVAC) is to ensure that safe, effective and affordable Strep A vaccines are available and implemented to decrease the burden of Strep A disease in the most in need. SAVAC will bring together experts in their field to facilitate the development of a Strep A Vaccine.
The STOP trial
Led by researchers at the Telethon Kids Institute (Dr Asha Bowen), in collaboration with our group, the See-Treat-Prevent trial is a step-wedge trial of treatment as prevention for scabies and impetigo in the Kimberly region of Australia.
The Pre-YIAL trial
Led by researchers In the Pneumococcal Group at MCRI (A/Prof Fiona Russell), in collaboration with our group, the “Preventing Young Infant Infections using Azithromycin in Labour” trial is a blinded placebo-controlled trial of azithromycin in pregnant mothers in Fiji to prevent serious bacterial infections in their babies.
Australian Centre for Control and Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases (ACE-NTD)
Led by the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, in collaboration with our group and other Australian and international researchers, the ACE-NTD aims to speed up the control and eliminate key neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in priority countries of the Asia-Pacific region. As part of the collaboration, the ACE-NTDs coordinates and amplifies Australian population health research efforts to fill evidence gaps for our region, by bringing together our leading national research groups and international counterparts. The primary beneficiaries of our work should be the people most affected by NTDs.
Funding
- National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
- Macquarie Group Foundation
- Medical Research Futures Fund
- World Health Organisation
- Viertel Charitable Foundation
- The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust
- CureKids New Zealand
Collaborations
- Molecular and clinical epidemiology of Strep A disease
- Lancefield Society
- SAEFVIC (Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community)
- Wellcome Institute
- Fiji Ministry of Health
- Strep A Vaccine Advancement
- Telethon Kids Institute
- The University of Melbourne
- International Vaccine Institute
- University of Auckland
- Griffith University
- Scabies Control and Elimination
- Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services
- Solomon Islands Ministry of Health Medical Services
- Kirby Institute
- International Alliance for the Control of Scabies
- Live and Learn Environmental Education
- Rheumatic Heart Disease Control and Prevention
- CureKids New Zealand
- Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services
- Cincinnati Children’s
- Makere University - Kampala
- University of Melbourne Centre for International Child Health (CICH)
Featured publications
- Secondary Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease. Beaton A, Okello E, Rwebembera J, Grobler A, Engelman D, Alepere J, et al. N Engl J Med. 2021.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34767321 - A controlled human infection model of Streptococcus pyogenes pharyngitis (CHIVAS-M75): an observational, dose-finding study. Osowicki J, Azzopardi KI, Fabri L, Frost HR, Rivera-Hernandez T, Neeland MR, et al. The Lancet Microbe. 2021;2(7):e291-e9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30240-8
- Efficacy of mass drug administration with ivermectin for control of scabies and impetigo, with coadministration of azithromycin: a single-arm community intervention trial. Romani L, Marks M, Sokana O, Nasi T, Kamoriki B, Cordell B, et al.
Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19(5):510-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30956111 - Focused cardiac ultrasound screening for rheumatic heart disease by briefly trained health workers: a study of diagnostic accuracy. Engelman D, Kado JH, Remenyi B, Colquhoun SM, Carapetis JR, Donath S, et al.
Lancet Glob Health. 2016;4(6):e386-94. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27198843 - Mass Drug Administration for Scabies Control in a Population with Endemic Disease. Romani L, Whitfeld MJ, Koroivueta J, Kama M, Wand H, Tikoduadua L, et al.
N Engl J Med. 2015;373(24):2305-13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26650152