Senior Research Officer
M.App.Epid., PhD
Dr Minda Sarna is an Infectious Diseases Epidemiologist and Senior Research Officer within the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology team at Telethon Kids Institute. She is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at Curtin University. Dr Sarna has 18 years’ experience working in research and government public health agencies.
Dr Sarna has used prospective and retrospective observational cohort data to examine respiratory virus infection epidemiology, burden and risk factors. She’s also contributed to maternal influenza vaccine safety evaluation through showing that antenatal influenza vaccine does not result in an increased prevalence of congenital abnormalities. Her current work is focused on the epidemiology, burden and risk factors for respiratory syncytial virus infection.
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Publications
February 2024
The effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination for protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants against infection, 2012–2017: a retrospective cohort study
To evaluate the effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination for preventing pertussis infections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants under seven months of age.
Published research Whooping Cough Aboriginal Health Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious DiseasesOctober 2023Factors Predicting Secondary Respiratory Morbidity Following Early-Life Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections: Population-Based Cohort Study
The association between early-life respiratory syncytial virus infections and later respiratory morbidity is well established. However, there is limited evidence on factors that influence this risk. We examined sociodemographic and perinatal factors associated with later childhood respiratory morbidity requiring secondary care following exposure to a laboratory-confirmed RSV episode in the first 2 years.
Published research Early Childhood Development Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Vaccine Trials Group Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Respiratory viral infections Child and adolescent healthNovember 2023Maternal Pertussis Vaccination, Infant Immunization, and Risk of Pertussis
Following the introduction of jurisdictional maternal pertussis vaccination programs in Australia, we estimated maternal vaccine effectiveness (VE) and whether maternal pertussis vaccination modified the effectiveness of the first 3 primary doses of pertussis-containing vaccines.
Published research Immunisation Whooping Cough Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Subsite: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Maternal health -
Education and Qualifications