Scabies is one of the most common and highest-burden skin diseases globally. Estimates suggest that >200 million people worldwide have scabies at any one time, with an annual prevalence of 455 million people, with children in impoverished and overcrowded settings being the most affected. Scabies infection is highly contagious and leads to considerable morbidity. Secondary bacterial infections are common and can cause severe health complications, including sepsis or necrotizing soft-tissue infection, renal damage and rheumatic heart disease. There is no vaccine or preventive treatment against scabies and, for the past 30 years, only few broad-spectrum antiparasitic drugs (mainly topical permethrin and oral ivermectin) have been widely available. Treatment failure is common because drugs have short half-lives and do not kill all developmental stages of the scabies parasite. At least two consecutive treatments are needed, which is difficult to achieve in resource-poor and itinerant populations. Another key issue is the lack of a practical, rapid, cheap and accurate diagnostic tool for the timely detection of scabies, which could prevent the cycle of exacerbation and disease persistence in communities. Scabies control will require a multifaceted approach, aided by improved diagnostics and surveillance, new treatments, and increased public awareness.

To minimise the risk of perinatal mortality, clinicians and expectant mothers must understand the risks and benefits associated with continuing the pregnancy.Report the gestation-specific risk of perinatal mortality at term.Population-based cohort study using linked health data to identify all singleton births at gestations 37-41 weeks, in Western Australia (WA) from 2009 to 2019. Lifetable analysis was used to combine the risk of each type of perinatal mortality and calculate the cumulative risk of perinatal mortality, termed the perinatal risk index (PRI). Rates of antepartum and intrapartum stillbirth and neonatal death, as well as the PRI, were examined for each gestational week at term by non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal ethnicity. For non-Aboriginal women, rates were also examined by time-period (pre- vs. post-WA Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative (the Initiative) rollout), primiparity, and obstetric risk.There were 332,084 singleton term births, including 60 perinatal deaths to Aboriginal mothers (3.2 deaths per 1000 births to Aboriginal mothers) and 399 perinatal deaths to non-Aboriginal mothers (1.3 deaths per 1000 births to non-Aboriginal mothers). For non-Aboriginal women, the PRI was at its lowest (PRI 0.80, 95% CI 0.61, 1.00) at 39 weeks gestation. For Aboriginal women, it was at its lowest at 38 weeks (PRI 2.43, 95% CI 0.48, 4.39) with similar risk at 39 weeks (PRI 2.68, 95% CI 1.22, 4.14). The PRI increased steadily after 39 weeks gestation. The risk of perinatal mortality was higher among Aboriginal women. The gestation-specific perinatal mortality rates were similar by the time-period, primiparity and obstetric risk.The gestational ages at term associated with the lowest risk of perinatal mortality reinforce that the recommendation not to deliver before 39 weeks without medical indication is applicable to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women giving birth in WA. There was no increase in the perinatal mortality rate associated with the introduction of the Initiative.

Effective intercultural communication between First Nations peoples and healthcare providers in colonised countries is required to deliver equitable healthcare and improve patient experiences and health outcomes. This paper presents First Nations peoples' perspectives and proposed solutions to problematic communication experiences at Royal Darwin Hospital in northern Australia. The study's methodological foundations comprise decolonising principles rooted in Critical Race Theory, Freirean pedagogy, and cultural safety. Eleven individuals from diverse First Nations backgrounds receiving treatment at the largest hospital in the Northern Territory, participated in in-depth interviews conducted in their preferred languages. Data were inductively analysed, adapted from a constructivist grounded theory approach and guided by First Nations knowledges. First Nations patients at Royal Darwin Hospital described a culturally unsafe hospital due to ineffective intercultural communication. Patient "counterstories" recounted instances of confusion, aggression, healthcare provider resistance to shared decision-making opportunities, pressure to abandon cultural protocols, and institutional neglect. Poor communication incited anger among staff and patients, and contributed to experiences of racism, missed appointments, clinical mistakes, patients prematurely discharging before completing treatment, and patients experiencing financial troubles and homelessness. In a spirit of generosity, patients proposed solutions focused on relationship building and mutual understanding so that new decolonised systems, which draw on First Nations and Western knowledges, can be codesigned. This study serves as a call to action for policymakers, administrators, and healthcare providers to prioritise improving intercultural communication by addressing the behaviour of staff and changing systemically racist policies in the pursuit of health equity and cultural safety for First Nations peoples.

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) requires a high level of suspicion, and late diagnosis can lead to dire outcomes. Genetic counselling is an important part of management, with a lack of evidence surrounding an optimal approach in Aboriginal Australian populations. Our case surrounds a remote-dwelling 48-year-old Aboriginal Australian female who was reviewed by an inpatient endocrine team in 2020 for persistent hypercalcaemia on a background of a parathyroidectomy in 2011 for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), while she was admitted to a local hospital for acute chronic abdominal pain. Relevant medical history included multiple pulmonary embolisms/deep vein thrombosis, myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, human T-lymphotropic virus 1, recurrent abdominal pain, and gastro-oesophageal reflux disorder. Gastroscopies from 2013 and 2015 demonstrated chronic gastritis with hundreds of gastric polyps. Subsequent laboratory studies, neuroendocrine tumour (NET) screening, and CT imaging demonstrated a recurrence of PHPT and a new diagnosis of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. A 68-gallium-DOTATATE PET/CT was in keeping with metastatic NET. Pituitary studies were normal. Genetic testing confirmed a rare heterozygous variant of c.207dupC in exon 2 of the MEN1 gene. Treatment was symptom based due to terminal comorbidities. Genetic counselling was attempted; however, cultural and logistical barriers were identified and the family declined further testing. Unfortunately, she died in 2021 from multifactorial respiratory failure. This case highlights the need for better approaches to genetic counselling systems for remote Aboriginal Australians and emphasizes the importance of early recognition and the challenges faced in remote areas in making such rare diagnoses.Remote healthcare systems often lack access to adequate specialist care, resulting in delayed diagnosis of rare conditions and leading to morbidity and mortality. Further research and work need to be done to provide culturally appropriate genetic counselling systems in remote Aboriginal Australians. A high index of suspicion is required to diagnose MEN1. Consider MEN1 in any patient diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism, with age <40, and/or with the presence of multiglandular disease or with the presence of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. MEN1 may be under-recognized in Aboriginal Australians.

The Northern Territory (NT) and Far North Queensland (FNQ) have a high proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women birthing who experience hyperglycaemia in pregnancy. A multi-component health systems intervention to improve antenatal and postpartum care in these regions for women with hyperglycaemia in pregnancy was implemented between 2016 and 2019. We explored health professional perspectives on the impact of the intervention on healthcare. The RE-AIM framework (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) underpinned this mixed-methods evaluation. Clinicians were surveyed before ( = 183) and following ( = 137) implementation. The constructs explored included usual practice and satisfaction with care pathways and communication between services. Clinicians, policymakers and the implementation team were interviewed ( = 36), exploring the impact of the health systems intervention on practice and systems of care. Survey and interview participants reported improvements in clinical practice and systems of care. Self-reported glucose screening practices improved, including the use of recommended tests (72.0% using recommended first-trimester screening test at baseline, 94.8% post-intervention, < 0.001) and the timing of postpartum diabetes screening (28.3% screening at appropriate interval after gestational diabetes at baseline, 66.7% post-intervention, < 0.001). Health professionals reported multiple improvements to care for women with hyperglycaemia in pregnancy following the health systems intervention.