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Background and Objectives: Patients with thalassaemia experience complications related to iron overload. In Australia currently, the two main options for iron chelation are deferasirox and deferoxamine. Optimal iron chelation using monotherapy can be limited due to toxicity or tolerability. Dual chelation therapy (DCT) may provide more aggressive iron chelation. Material and Methods: A retrospective, observational study was performed on a state‐wide referral centre for patients receiving red cell transfusions for haemoglobinopathies (Monash Health, Australia). All patients prescribed DCT were identified using a local pharmacy dispensing database and were included in the study. Pre‐DCT initiation and post‐DCT completion were correlated with serum ferritin, cardiac iron loading (based on MRI T2* measurements) and liver iron content (LIC) using Wilcoxon signed‐rank test. Results: A total of 18 patients (12 adults, 6 children) were identified as receiving DCT. All patients received a combination of deferasirox and deferoxamine. The median duration of therapy was 23 months (range 2–73). Median serum ferritin reduced by 42% (p = 0.004) and there was a 76% reduction in LIC (p = 0.062). No significant changes were seen in cardiac iron loading. Conclusion: DCT over a prolonged period is effective at reducing serum ferritin and may contribute to improvement in liver iron loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pediatric infectious disease clinicians in industrialized countries may encounter iatrogenically transmitted HIV, hepatitis B virus, and hepatitis C virus infections in refugee children from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The consequences of political collapse and/or civil war-work migration, prostitution, intravenous drug use, defective public health resources, and poor access to good medical care-all contribute to the spread of blood-borne viruses. Inadequate infection control practices by medical establishments can lead to iatrogenic infection of children. Summaries of 4 cases in refugee children in Australia are a salient reminder of this problem.