Objective: To examine the sequence of environmental and entomological events prior to a substantial increase in Ross River virus (RRV) and Barmah Forest virus (BFV) notifications with a view to informing future public health response.Methods: Rainfall, tidal, mosquito and human arboviral notification data were analysed to determine the temporality of events.Results: Following two extremely dry years, there was a substantial increase in the abundance of mosquitoes along coastal New South Wales (NSW) two weeks after a significant rainfall event and high tides in February 2020. Subsequently, RRV and BFV notifications in north east NSW began to increase eight and nine weeks respectively after the high rainfall, with RRV notifications peaking 12 weeks after the high rainfall.Conclusions: Mosquito bite avoidance messaging should be instigated within two weeks of high summer rainfall, especially after an extended dry period.Implications for public health: Intense summertime rain events, which are expected to increase in frequency in south-east Australia with climate change, can lead to significant increases in arboviral disease. These events need to be recognised by public health practitioners to facilitate timely public health response. This has taken on added importance since the emergence of Japanese encephalitis virus in southeastern Australia in 2022.

Background: Sydney has a large and highly mobile immigrant community. The pattern of paediatric tuberculosis (TB) disease in this highly cosmopolitan city is not well documented. Methods: We reviewed data on all children notified with TB in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, from January 2014 to December 2015, complemented by an expanded dataset for children managed within the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (SCHN). Results: Over the 2-year study period, 921 TB cases were identified in NSW, including 26 (2.8%) children younger than 15 years of age. Of 23 children and adolescents treated for TB in the SCHN, 21 (91.3%) had a history of recent immigration from, or travel to, a country with high TB incidence, and 7 (30.4%) reported contact with an infectious TB case in Australia. Fourteen (60.9%) children had microbiologically confirmed TB; of these, 5 (21.7%) had acid-fast bacilli on microscopy, 8 (34.8%) were positive by polymerase chain reaction and 11 (47.8%) were positive by culture. All Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were susceptible to first-line drugs. Ten (43.5%) cases were not vaccinated with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), including all cases with severe disease: 2 with disseminated (miliary) TB and 3 with tuberculous meningitis. Conclusion: Our findings emphasise the need for improved TB prevention and surveillance in children at high risk of exposure, particularly young children travelling to areas of high TB incidence.

No abstract

No abstract