About

Preventable and treatable infectious diseases are a leading cause of death in children, particularly in newborn babies (neonates). In fact, infection is one of the primary causes of 2.3m neonatal deaths occurring every year. For those babies who do survive serious infections in their early life, many are left with significant disabilities. A better understanding of the causes of infections in children and babies, alongside the burden of antimicrobial resistance, is necessary to reduce this morbidity and mortality. 

The spread of antimicrobial resistance, coupled with rising rates of hospital deliveries globally – which are occurring in crowded, and under-resourced facilities – increases the burden of multidrug-resistant (MDR) infections in neonates. Consequently, of the 3 million cases of serious neonatal infections (‘neonatal sepsis’) that currently occur each year, over half a million of these babies die. At the same time, very few new antibiotics are currently in development to enable effective treatments to be available to treat the rising burden of antibiotic-resistant infections. 

To ensure we have effective antibiotics available to treat babies and children with infections, we need to improve our surveillance of these infections, while concurrently identifying interventions that can break the chains of transmission for multidrug-resistant infections in babies. 

The NeoSEAP consortium encompasses a collaboration of clinicians, scientists and researchers dedicated to reducing the burden or morbidity and mortality due to AMR in children. Led by paediatric infectious diseases specialist Dr Phoebe Williams and a research team at The University of Sydney, our partners include frontline clinicians working in neonatology and infectious diseases in high-burden countries across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, alongside global collaborations with research groups from The University of Oxford & St George’s University (UK) and Stellenbosch University (South Africa). With these partners, we are gathering granular data to better understand the burden of infections within our region, and these data contribute to global studies, including ACORN and the GRAM network. 

Concurrently, our team is also evaluating how the chains of transmission for multidrug-resistant infections occur in hospital settings, and between mothers and babies. This will enable us to identify key infection, prevention and control strategies to reduce the number of infections occurring in babies, whilst also optimising treatment strategies for babies with multidrug-resistant infections. Our findings are also helping to drive the research and development of optimal antibiotics in children via our role with The World Health Organization’s Paediatric Drug Optimisation Group.