Routine childhood immunisation is vital to preventing life-threatening illness; however, global coverage of routine childhood immunisations has fallen in recent years, leaving over 14 million children globally without protection. This study aimed to identify shared and context-specific drivers of routine childhood immunisation dropout in select sites in Mozambique and Malawi through a secondary analysis of qualitative data.

We conducted a secondary inductive thematic analysis on qualitative data from a community-based participatory research study. Co-creation workshops, guided by a human-centred design approach, were held to develop context-specific solutions in each study site. Data for this analysis were collected between February 2020 and March 2021 in Mozambique and between July 2022 and February 2023 in Malawi.

Zambezia, Mozambique and Lilongwe and Mzimba North Districts, Malawi.

Participants included caregivers of partially (n=60) and fully vaccinated (n=22) children aged 25–34 months, healthcare workers (n=12), community healthcare workers (n=30), Expanded Programme on Immunisation staff (n=11) and community representatives (n=14). Caregivers were identified through vaccination registers and with support from health workers, community leaders and health volunteers.

We identified four key contextual and health system differences between Malawi and Mozambique affecting dropout: the composition of the immunisation workforce, the state of the vaccine ecosystem, vaccination card policies and vaccination outreach models. Common challenges across both countries included gender roles that burdened mothers, limited vaccine information, negative health worker interactions, pandemic-related disruptions and stockouts. Common solutions generated through co-creation workshops included improving health worker–caregiver communication, vaccine education and immunisation outreach resources. Solutions in Mozambique emphasised strengthening the community health worker (CHW) role in immunisation, while in Malawi, whose CHW workforce already administers vaccines, solution ideas focused on improving CHW data management.

Our analysis highlights the opportunity for scalable solutions to identified common immunisation barriers, including tailored vaccine education that addresses caregiver knowledge gaps, improved caregiver–health worker communication, improved outreach models and addressing gender dynamics and vaccine stockouts.

Cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P) is a lifelong condition affecting one in 700 births. In the UK, individuals born with CL/P follow a care pathway at specialist regional cleft centres, which includes input from a range of professionals including surgeons, speech and language therapists, cleft specialist nurses, orthodontists, dentists and clinical psychologists. The cleft centres provide care from diagnosis to early adulthood. Individuals born with CL/P are typically discharged from routine care at their cleft centre between the ages of 15 and 25 years.

Outcome measures of cleft care are currently gathered at different timepoints across the treatment pathway nationally and include outcomes for speech, growth, dental health and psychosocial well-being. However, there is no consistent reporting of outcomes for young adults when they complete routine care, meaning we do not know whether variation in outcomes exists and what this might look like.

This research programme will investigate whether outcomes vary based on factors such as geographical location, biological sex, socioeconomic status or ethnicity. By understanding how outcomes might vary, and the scale and type of variation, we plan to work with young adults born with CL/P and specialist clinicians to develop ways to ensure that everyone born with CL/P in the UK receives the optimum care to meet their needs.

Cleft@18–23 is an observational study of young adults born with CL/P. Recruitment is planned across all regions of the UK, beginning in April 2025 with research clinics scheduled to run between June 2025 and May 2027. The recruitment target is 640 participants born with CL/P. Participants with all cleft diagnoses, including those with additional syndromic diagnoses, will be eligible for recruitment. We will recruit participants from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Data collection will include self-report participant questionnaires, speech samples, a hearing screen, two-dimensional and three-dimensional medical photographs, an intraoral scan and a dental assessment. A range of descriptive and inferential statistical analyses will explore variation in outcomes across different groups.

The Cleft@18–23 study obtained ethical approval from the South West-Frenchay Research Ethics Committee on 26 November 2024 (REC reference: 24/SW/0128). Informed consent will be required for participation. Findings from the Cleft@18–23 study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, newsletters, the study website (https://www.bristol.ac.uk/cleft18-23) and social media.

ISRCTN34027276.

To describe diagnostic and management characteristics of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) among participants in the ‘Searching for a Technology-Driven Acute Rheumatic Fever Test’ study, in order to answer clinical questions and determine epidemiological and practice differences in different settings.

Multisite, prospective cohort study.

One hospital in northern Australia and two hospitals in New Zealand, 2018–2021.

143 episodes of definite, probable or possible ARF among 141 participants (median age 10 years, range 5–23; 98% Indigenous).

Participant characteristics, clinical, biochemical and echocardiographic data were explored using descriptive data. Associations with length of stay were determined using multivariable regression analysis.

ARF presentations were heterogeneous with the most common ARF ‘phenotype’ in 19% of cases being carditis with joint manifestations (polyarthritis, monarthritis or polyarthralgia), fever and PR prolongation. The total proportion of children with carditis was 61%. Australian compared with New Zealand participants more commonly had ARF recurrence (22% vs 0%), underlying RHD (48% vs 0%), possible/probable ARF (23% vs 9%) and were underweight (64% vs 16%). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) provided an incremental diagnostic yield of 21% compared with C reactive protein. No instances of RHD were diagnosed among participants in New Zealand. Positive throat Group A Streptococcus culture was more common in New Zealand than in Australian participants (69% vs 3%). Children often required prolonged hospitalisation, with median hospital length-of-stay being 7 days (range 2–66). Significant predictors for length of stay in a multivariable regression model were valve disease (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.56, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.98, p

This study provides new knowledge on ARF characteristics and management and highlights international variation in diagnostic and management practice. Differing approaches need to be aligned. Meanwhile, locally specific information can help guide patient expectations after ARF diagnosis.