PREDICT researchers from multiple sites and their collaborators in infectious diseases, general medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, radiology and neuropsychology have received a considerable amount of funding from the latest Medical Research Futures Fund (MRFF) round. Congratulations to all involved!
$1.6M for UTI RCT
Urinary tract infections are the most common reason in the developed world for children to need antibiotics. This funding is for a five year RCT to see whether complicated UTIs can be treated within a single day dose of intravenous antibiotics, instead of the current three- day regimen. This group of patients has been excluded from previous trials, meaning that current practice varies widely across hospitals, adding to hospitalisations as well as potentially contributing to antimicrobial resistance. The trial will be run at PREDICT network sites in Australia and New Zealand, led by The Royal Children’s Hospital/MCRI in Melbourne.
$2.5M for neck injuries study
In adults high quality clinical decision rules exist to guide the decision making in patients with possible neck injuries. In Australia 60 percent or more of children with possible neck injuries will have an X-ray, CT scan or MRI. Overall, however, less than one per cent actually have abnormalities detected on imaging. The SONIC study aims to identify whether existing decision rules or a newly developed child specific rule can reduce unnecessary imaging and the accompanying radiation exposure, time, inconvenience, patient discomfort and expense, while still ensuring optimal outcomes for these children. This five-year multi-centre study of neck imaging will involve up to 30,000 children with possible neck injuries presenting to Australian and New Zealand emergency departments. The study will be run at PREDICT network sites in Australia and New Zealand, led by The Royal Children’s Hospital/MCRI in Melbourne.
$4M for child stroke study
Stroke diagnosis and management is well established in adults. In children stroke diagnosis is often delayed and there are no well established care protocols and pathways. Yet, each year up to 600 Australian children suffer a stroke; one in 20 die and more than half of survivors will experience long-term impairments. The Australian Paediatric Acute Code Stroke (PACS) study will design, develop and evaluate a national protocol to increase stroke diagnosis within 4.5 hours for infants, children and teens. The study will use clinical decision support tools and advanced brain imaging to improve stroke management in children. The study will be run at PREDICT network sites in Australia and New Zealand, led by The Royal Children’s Hospital/MCRI in Melbourne.
$1.9M grant for child concussion RCT
Concussion accounts for more than 95 per cent of all mild traumatic brain injury, with 20 per cent of all children sustaining a concussive injury before age 10. Due to the developing brain’s immaturity, children and adolescents are uniquely vulnerable, even to mild injury, and up to 40 per cent suffer slower than average or incomplete recovery. This study will fund an RCT to develop and trial multidisciplinary, symptom-targeted treatments to reduce persisting post concussive symptoms and develop a simple blood test to identify biomarkers of persistent concussion symptoms and recovery mechanisms. This study will be conducted at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and at Queensland Children’s Hospital.