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Professor Theo Sloots

Academic Title Holder & Honorary Professor
Child Health Research Centre
+61 7 3069 7487
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Researcher biography

Professor Theo Sloots is a PhD graduate in Microbiology, with a special interest in molecular microbiology and medical virology. He is the Director of Research at the Queensland Paediatric Infectious Diseases (QPID) laboratory at the Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, Brisbane. His laboratory conducts basic and applied research in infectious diseases, particularly respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, applies molecular technology to the diagnosis and characterisation of microorganisms, and investigates undiagnosed infectious disease in children. The QPID laboratory is considered a Centre of Excellence in diagnostic microbiology. Over the last 10 years Prof Sloots has attracted research funding in excess of $14 million from external granting bodies such as the NHMRC, ARC, NIH and the Children's Health Foundation. He has published extensively with 205 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and books.He is a Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology and a Foundation Fellow, Faculty of Science (RCPA).

Publications

Book Chapters (11)
Journal Articles (188)
Conference Papers (31)

Book Chapters

Human polyomaviruses
A new, multiplex, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction system for nucleic acid detection and quantification
Protocol for the use of enzyme-linked hybridization assays for genital ulcer disease
Protocol for the molecular detection of antibiotic resistance mechanisms in Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Malaria (P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale)
Real-time PCR; History and Fluorgenic Chemistries
Challenges Facing Real-time PCR Characterization of Acute Respiratory Tract Infections.
Experts' roundtable: Real time PCR and microbiology
Quantification of Microorganisms: not Human, not Simple, not Quick.
Molecular diagnosis of medical viruses
Clinical Virology

Journal Articles

Bacteria and viruses in the nasopharynx immediately prior to onset of acute lower respiratory infections in Indigenous Australian children
Viruses causing lower respiratory symptoms in young children: findings from the ORChID birth cohort
Timing of First Respiratory Virus Detections in Infants: A Community-Based Birth Cohort Study
Presence of atopy increases the risk of asthma relapse
Global epidemiology of non-influenza RNA respiratory viruses: data gaps and a growing need for surveillance?
Detection of Toscana virus from an adult traveler returning to Australia with encephalitis
Detection of viruses in weekly stool specimens collected during the first 2 years of life: a pilot study of five healthy Australian infants in the rotavirus vaccine era
Upper airway viruses and bacteria in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Brisbane, Australia: a cross-sectional study
Effectiveness of a cough management algorithm at the transitional phase from acute to chronic cough in Australian children aged <15 years: protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Upper airway viruses and bacteria and clinical outcomes in children with cough
Influenza vaccine efficacy in young children attending childcare: a randomised controlled trial
Respiratory viruses in neonates: a prospective, community-based birth cohort study
A difficult decision: atypical JC polyomavirus encephalopathy in a kidney transplant recipient
Prevalence, codetection and seasonal distribution of upper airway viruses and bacteria in children with acute respiratory illnesses with cough as a symptom
Linking murine and human Plasmodium falciparum challenge models in a translational path for antimalarial drug development
The burden of community-managed acute respiratory infections in the first 2-years of life
Detection of recently discovered human polyomaviruses in a longitudinal kidney transplant cohort
Estimating the prevalence of mixed-type gonococcal infections in Queensland, Australia
Identification of Mycobacterium abscessus complex and M. abscessus subsp massiliense culture isolates by real-time assays
The respiratory health of urban indigenous children aged less than 5 years: study protocol for a prospective cohort study
Specific rolling circle amplification of low-copy human polyomaviruses BKV, HPyV6, HPyV7, TSPyV, and STLPyV
Three-weekly doses of azithromycin for indigenous infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis: a multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled trial
Deep sequence characterisation of a divergent HPIV-4a from an adult with prolonged influenza-like illness
Comparison of test specificities of commercial antigen-based assays and in-house PCR methods for detection of rotavirus in stool specimens
Enhancing influenza diagnostics to catch a shifting target
High-throughput informative single nucleotide polymorphism-based typing of Neisseria gonorrhoeae using the Sequenom MassARRAY iPLEX platform
Detection of a divergent Parainfluenza 4 virus in an adult patient with influenza like illness using next-generation sequencing
A comparison of two informative SNP-based strategies for typing Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis
Epidemiology of respiratory viral infections in children enrolled in a study of influenza vaccine effectiveness
Feasibility of parental collected nasal swabs for virus detection in young children with cystic fibrosis
Potential Animal and Environmental Sources of Q Fever Infection for Humans in Queensland
Nasal swab samples and real-time polymerase chain reaction assays in community-based, longitudinal studies of respiratory viruses: the importance of sample integrity and quality control
A retrospective performance evaluation of an adenovirus real-time PCR assay
PCR to diagnose infectious disease
A national quality assurance survey of Neisseria gonorrhoeae testing
Molecular approaches to enhance surveillance of gonococcal antimicrobial resistance
Screening for H7N9 influenza A by matrix gene-based real-time reverse-transcription PCR
Respiratory viruses in exacerbations of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis in children
Experimentally induced blood-stage plasmodium vivax infection in healthy volunteers
Mailed versus frozen transport of nasal swabs for surveillance of respiratory bacteria in remote Indigenous communities in Australia
Different serologic behavior of MCPyV, TSPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and HPyV9 polyomaviruses found on the skin
A Single Dose of Azithromycin Does Not Improve Clinical Outcomes of Children Hospitalised with Bronchiolitis: A Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Circularizing picornavirus genomes to rapidly obtain terminal sequence
The development of chronic cough in children following presentation to a tertiary paediatric emergency department with acute respiratory illness: study protocol for a prospective cohort study
Bordetella holmesii and pertussis diagnosis: authors' reply
Association of micropapillary urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and BK viruria in kidney transplant recipients
Evidence of false-positive results in a commercially available rotavirus assay in the vaccine era, Australia, 2011 to 2012
Detection of novel polyomaviruses, TSPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7, HPyV9 and MWPyV in feces, urine, blood, respiratory swabs and cerebrospinal fluid
Community-wide, contemporaneous circulation of a broad spectrum of human rhinoviruses in healthy Australian preschool-aged children during a 12-month period
Virus detection and its association with symptoms during influenza-like illness in a sample of healthy adults enrolled in a randomised controlled vaccine trial
High-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism-based typing of shared Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains in cystic fibrosis patients using the Sequenom iPLEX platform
Polymerase chain reaction-based screening for the ceftriaxone-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae F89 strain
Human rhinovirus C in adult haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients with respiratory illness
Real-time PCR genotyping of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates using 14 informative single nucleotide polymorphisms on gonococcal housekeeping genes
Bronchiectasis exacerbation study on azithromycin and amoxycillin-clavulanate for respiratory exacerbations in children (BEST-2): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Further evidence that the IS481 target is suitable for real-time PCR detection of Bordetella pertussis
Respiratory syncytial virus infection is associated with increased bacterial load in the upper respiratory tract in young children
Respiratory virus detection in nasopharyngeal aspirate versus bronchoalveolar lavage is dependent on virus type in children with chronic respiratory symptoms
Direct urine polymerase chain reaction for chlamydia and gonorrhoea: a simple means of bringing high-throughput rapid testing to remote settings?
Household transmission of respiratory viruses - assessment of viral, individual and household characteristics in a population study of healthy Australian adults
Observational Research in Childhood Infectious Diseases (ORChID): a dynamic birth cohort study
A newly designed real-time RT-PCR for SAFV detects SAFV-2 and SAFV-3 in the respiratory tracts of ill children during 2011
The ticking time bomb: escalating antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a public health disaster in waiting
Exploring the Prevalence of Ten Polyomaviruses and Two Herpes Viruses in Breast Cancer
Antibiotics for bronchiectasis exacerbations in children: Rationale and study protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial
Improved detection of genetic markers of antimicrobial resistance by hybridization probe-based melting curve analysis using primers to mask proximal mutations: Examples include the influenza H275Y substitution
A novel duplex real-time PCR for HPIV-4 detects co-circulation of both viral subtypes among ill children during 2008
Co-circulation of four human Coronaviruses (HCoVs) in Queensland children with acute respiratory tract illnesses in 2004
Enhanced gonococcal antimicrobial surveillance in the era of ceftriaxone resistance: A real-time PCR assay for direct detection of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae H041 strain
PrimRglo: A multiplexable quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction system for nucleic acid detection
The influence of target population on nonculture-based detection of markers of Neisseria gonorrhoeae antimicrobial resistance
Pilot study of influenza vaccine effectiveness in urban Australian children attending childcare
Comparison of a multiplexed MassARRAY system with real-time allele-specific PCR technology for genotyping of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Q fever seroprevalence in metropolitan samples is similar to rural/remote samples in Queensland, Australia
Evaluation of a clinical scoring system and directed laboratory testing for respiratory virus infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
Rapid single-nucleotide polymorphism-based identification of clonal Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis by the use of real-time PCR and high-resolution melting curve analysis
Viral-bacterial co-infection in Australian Indigenous children with acute otitis media
Successful application of a simple transport method for the conduct of respiratory virus surveillance in remote Indigenous communities in Australia
False-negative results using Neisseria gonorrhoeae porA pseudogene PCR - a clinical gonococcal isolate with an N. meningitidis porA sequence, Australia, March 2011
Reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is spread internationally by genetically distinct gonococcal populations
Randomized placebo-controlled trial on azithromycin to reduce the morbidity of bronchiolitis in Indigenous Australian infants: Rationale and protocol
Infrequent detection of KI, WU and MC polyomaviruses in immunosuppressed individuals with or without progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
A real-time, quantitative PCR method using hydrolysis probes for the monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum load in experimentally infected human volunteers
Enhancing gonococcal antimicrobial resistance surveillance: a real-time PCR assay for detection of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae by use of noncultured clinical samples
Usefulness of published PCR primers in detecting human rhinovirus infection
Alterations of the pilQ gene in Neisseria gonorrhoeae are unlikely contributors to decreased susceptibility to ceftriaxone and cefixime in clinical gonococcal strains
Evaluation of the cobas 4800 CT/NG test for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone in neisseria gonorrhoeae is associated with mutations G542S, P551S and P551L in the gonococcal penicillin-binding protein 2
Newly identified respiratory viruses in children with asthma exacerbation not requiring admission to hospital
A simple approach for preparing real-time PCR positive reaction controls for rare or emerging viruses
Whole-genome characterization and genotyping of global WU polyomavirus strains
Low prevalence of DNA viruses in the human endometrium and endometriosis
Errantum : Early evidence for direct and indirect effects of the infant rotavirus vaccine program in Queensland (vol 191, pg 157, 2009)
Molecular characterization and distinguishing features of a novel human rhinovirus (HRV) C, HRVC-QCE, detected in children with fever, cough and wheeze during 2003
A novel duplex real-time reverse transcription PCR Assay for the detection of influenza A and the novel influenza A(H1N1)strain.
Cough-generated aerosols of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other Gram-negative bacteria from patients with cystic fibrosis.
An example of competitive inhibition in a monoplex real-time PCR as a cause of reduced fluorescent signal response
Simple, rapid, and inexpensive detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae resistance mechanisms using heat-denatured isolates and SYBR green-based real-time PCR.
Neisseria gonorrhoeae multi-antigen sequence typing using non-cultured clinical specimens.
Early evidence for direct and indirect effects of the infant rotavirus vaccine program in Queensland
Detection of BK, JC, WU, or KI polyomaviruses in faecal, urine, blood, cerebrospinal fluid and respiratory samples
Detection of novel influenza A(H1N1) virus by real-time RT-PCR.
Two cases of failed ceftriaxone treatment in pharyngeal gonorrhoea verified by molecular microbiological methods.
Do rhinoviruses reduce the probability of viral co-detection during acute respiratory tract infections?
The check is in the mail: piloting a novel approach to Chlamydia trachomatis testing using self-collected, mailed specimen.
Low rates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa misidentification in isolates from Cystic Fibrosis patients.
The impact of viral respiratory infection on the severity and recovery from an asthma exacerbation.
A novel gel-based method for self collection and ambient temperature postal transport of urine for PCR detection of Chlamydia trachomatis.
Merkel cell polyomavirus DNA in respiratory specimens from children and adults
Detection of Human Bocavirus in respiratory, fecal and blood samples by real-time PCR
Identification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by a duplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the ecfX and the gyrB genes
Pertussis in infants: How to protect the vulnerable?
Prior evidence of a putative novel rhinovirus species in Australia
Human metapneumovirus in lung transplant recipients and comparison to respiratory syncytial virus
Identification of Australian human respiratory syncytial virus strains containing a 60-nucleotide duplication within the G glycoprotein gene.
A 5- verus 3- day course of oral corticosteroids for children with asthma exacerbations who are not hospitalised: a randomized control trial
Comparing nose-throat swabs and nasopharyngeal aspirates collected from children with symptoms for respiratory virus identification using real-time polymerase chain reaction
High prevalence of a class 1 integron-associated aadB gene cassette in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from an Australian cystic fibrosis patient population
Emerging respiratory agents: New viruses for old diseases?
False-Negative results in nucleic acid amplification tests: do we need to routinely use two genetic targets in all assays to overcome problems caused by sequence variation?
Distinguishing molecular features and clinical characteristics of a putative new rhinovirus species, Human Rhinovirus C (HRV C)
Major histocompatibility complex class I cytotoxic T lymphocyte immunity to human metapneumovirus (hMPV) in individuals with previous hMPV infection and respiratory disease
Human metapneumovirus and human coronavirus NL63 - In reply
Presence of the newly discovered human polyomaviruses KI and WU in Australian patients with acute respiratory tract infection
Exploring 'best practice' for nucleic acid detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae
A duplex Neisseria gonorrhoeae real-time polymerase chain reaction assay targeting the gonoccoccal porA pseudogene and multicopy opa genes
Diversity of penA alterations and subtypes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains from Sydney, Australia, that are less susceptible to ceftriaxone
Development and evaluation of real-time PCR assays for the detection of the newly identified KI and WU polyomaviruses
Community epidemiology of human Metapneumovirus, human Coronavirus NL63, and other respiratory viruses in healthy preshcool-aged children using parent-collected specimens
A newly reported human polyomavirus, KI virus, is present in the respiratory tract of Australian children
Use of a novel screening PCR indicates presence of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates with a mosaic penA gene sequence in Australia
Characterisation of a newly identified human rhinovirus, HRV-QPM, discovered in infants with bronchiolitis
Impact of competitive inhibition and sequence variation upon the sensitivity of Malaria PCR
Identification of a novel polyomavirus from patients with acute respiratory tract infections
Further questions regarding the role of Mosaic penA sequences in conferring reduced susceptibility to Ceftriaxone in Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Molecular diagnosis of medical viruses.
Incidence, etiology, and symptomatology of upper respiratory illness in elite athletes
Supplemental testing is still required in Australia for samples positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae by nucleic acid detection tests
Applications of molecular testing in clinical laboratories for the diagnosis and control of gonorrhea
Human coronavirus nomenclature
Genetic diversity of human metapneumovirus over 4 consecutive years in Australia
Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitope vaccination protects against human metapneumovirus infection and disease in mice
Nucleic acid amplification testing for Neisseria gonorrhoeae: An ongoing challenge
Sequence variation can affect the performance of minor groove binder TaqMan probes in viral diagnostic assays
Evidence that the gonococcal porA pseudogene is present in a broad range of Neisseria gonorrhoeae strains; suitability as a diagnostic target
Detection and discrimination of herpes simplex viruses, Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, and Calymmatobacterium (Klebsiella) granulomatis from genital ulcers
Specific detection of enterovirus 71 directly from clinical specimens using real-time RT-PCR hybridization probe assay
Evidence of human coronavirus HKU1 and human bocavirus in Australian children
Perspective on the host response to human metapneumovirus infection: what can we learn from respiratory syncytial virus infections?
Real-time PCR assays for detection of bocavirus in human specimens
Human metapneumovirus, Australia, 2001-2004
Frequent detection of human rhinoviruses, paramyxoviruses, coronaviruses, and bocavirus during acute respiratory tract infections
A 5 '-nuclease real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of a broad range of influenza A subtypes, including H5N1
Sequence variation in primer targets affects the accuracy of viral quantitative PCR
A cluster of culture positive gonococcal infections but with false negative cppB gene based PCR
A real-time PCR assay for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in genital and extragenital specimens
Cryptic-plasmid-free gonococci may contribute to failure of cppB gene-based assays to confirm results of BD ProbeTEC PCR for identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae
New human coronavirus, HCoV-NL63, associated with severe lower respiratory tract disease in Australia
Method for detection of respiratory viruses in the sputa of patients with cystic fibrosis
Comparison of three in-house multiplex PCR assays for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis using real-time and conventional detection methodologies
Melting curve analysis using hybridisation probes: limitations in microbial molecular diagnostics
Use of the P gene to genotype human metapneumovirus identifies 4 viral subtypes
Rapid genotyping of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates harboured by adult and paediatric patients with cystic fibrosis using repetitive-element-based PCR assays
A new confirmatory Neisseria gonorrhoeae real-time PCR assay targeting the porA pseudogene
Clonal strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in paediatric and adult cystic fibrosis units
Global genetic diversity of human metapneumovirus fusion gene
Detection and differentiation of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 by a duplex LightCycler PCR that incorporates an internal control PCR reaction
A sensitive, specific, and cost-effective multiplex reverse transcriptase-PCR assay for the detection of seven common respiratory viruses in respiratory samples
Detection and differentiation of Plasmodium species by polymerase chain reaction and colorimetric detection in blood samples of patients with suspected malaria
Simultaneous detection and differentiation of human Polyomaviruses JC and BK by a rapid and sensitive PCR-ELAHA assay and a survey of the JCV subtypes within an Australian population
Validation of assembled nucleic acid-based tests in diagnostic microbiology laboratories
Preliminary comparison of three lightcycler pcr assays for the detection of herpes simplex virus in swab specimens
Co-detection and discrimination of six human herpesviruses by multiplex PCR-ELAHA
Detection of Influenza type A virus by LightCycler RT-PCR
Detection of Neisseria meningitidis by LightCycler PCR
Molecular assays for detection of human metapneumovirus
Detection of Neisseria Meningitidis in clinical samples by a duplex read-time PCR targeting the porA and ctrA Genes
Detection of Neisseria Meningitidis in clinical samples by a duplex real-time PCR targeting the porA and ctrA genes
Detection of human respiratory syncytial virus in respiratory samples by LightCycler reverse transcriptase PCR
Evidence of human metapneumovirus in Australian children
A real-time PCR assay for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae by LightCycler
Rapid diagnosis in pediatric infectious diseases: The past, the present and the future
Detection and differentiation of human polyomaviruses JC and BK by LightCycler PCR
Vitamin B12 and hepatitis C: Molecular biology and human pathology
Epstein-Barr virus encephalitis in a renal allograft recipient diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction on cerebrospinal fluid and successfully treated with ganciclovir
Quantitative PCR-ELAHA for the determination of retroviral vector transduction efficiency
Human herpesvirus type 8 in salivary gland tumors
Acute hypertrophic cardiomyopathy possibly associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

Conference Papers

Wheezy episodes during the first year of life decrease airway distensibility
Improving the Management of Indigenous Children Hospitalised with Bronchiolitis: a Multicenter Rct
Recovery From Acute Asthma Exacerbations in Children: Influence of Viruses, Eczema and Atopy
Protracted bacterial bronchitis in children: results of a large prospective cohort study
Chronic cough following acute respiratory illness in children
WU, KI, MW and MCV polyomavirus infection in the first 2 years of life
The changing epidemiology of rotavirus in Queensland, Australia, three years after the introduction of pentavalent rotavirus vaccine
The continuing decline: rotavirus in Queensland following the introduction of multivalent vaccine
Early evidence for direct and indirect effects of the infant rotavirus vaccine program in Queensland, Australia
A new multiplexable, quantitative, real-time system for detection of nucleic acids
The impact of quasispecies on respiratory virus PCR.
The impact of oligonucleotide design on PCR sensitivity. Abstract M-54
Factors influencing the sensitivity of the malarial PCR assay.
Evidence of human coronavirus NL63, HKU1 and human bocavirus in Australian children with acute respiratory infection
A newly identified human rhinovirus present in young children with bronchiolitis
A four year study of human metapneumovirus in Australia
The impact of competitive inhibition and sequence variation upon the sensitivity of malaria PCR
The impact of competitive inhibition and sequence variation upon the sensitivity of malaria PCR.
Detection of an integron associated aadB resistance gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with CF
Detection of an integron associated aadb-resistance gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from patients with CF
Upper respiratory illness aetiology and symptomatology in elite and recreationally competitive athletes
Identifying the aetiology of upper respiratory illness in elite and recreational athletes
Rapid genotyping of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using repetitive element based PCr assays
Presence of epidemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa shared between paediatric and adult cystic fibrosis
Rapid genotyping of Pseudomonas aeruginosa using repetitive element based PCR assays
Presence of epidemic Pseudomonas aeruginosa shared between paediatric and adult cystic fibrosis
The effects of vitamin B12 on hepatitis C virus replication
Prevalence of Bacteroides forsythus in a cardiovascular diseased population: A case controlled analysis using real-time PCR
Low dose valaciclovir for the prevention of CMV disease post allogeneic bone marrow transplantation
Effects of cobalamin on hepatitis C virus translation and replication
Effects of cobalamin on hepatitis C virus translation and replication

Areas of research

Infectious Diseases