Wheezing in childhood is extremely common, nearly 50% of children experience at least one episode of wheezing before the age of 6 years and wheeze is one of the commonest health problems requiring medical care. Children aged between 1-5 years account for 75% of these admissions with the median age of admission for acute attacks of wheeze being 3 years.
It is World Pneumonia Day on November 12th. Pneumonia remains a leading cause of death among young children despite the widespread introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccine. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that may cause severe respiratory disease especially in infants. We will describe the findings of a systematic review, which was part of a series for WHO, which aimed to determine the common aetiology of severe and non-severe community acquired pneumonia among children 1 month to 9 years of age in low- and middle-income countries globally. We will also discuss the impact of the global pandemic on the epidemiology of respiratory infections with a focus on RSV.
In recognition of Allied Health Professions Day on 14 October 2021, RCH is excited to extend the celebrations across the entire week of 11-15th October. Allied Health Professions Day first began in the UK in 2018 and has since become an international event to recognise and celebrate the Allied Health Professional community.
It is World Pneumonia Day on November 12th. Pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections remain the most common causes of childhood death, and illness requiring hospitalization globally. This is despite the effective pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) being widely available, which points to the varied causation of childhood pneumonia in 2020.
recision (or personalised) Health is being promoted as the future of healthcare. Indeed, precision health is the key theme of the latest MCRI strategic plan and the focus of much attention on campus. One of the key tools in precision health is genomics. During this Grand Round, Prof Colin Robertson will reflect on his extensive experience as a clinician-scientist in paediatric respiratory medicine. In particular, he will focus on the successes and failures of genomics in conditions such as cystic fibrosis and asthma, and he will contend that the key to using genomics to improve patient care is a strong understanding of physiology in health and disease.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) in children in countries throughout the world. The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) emergency department, wards and intensive care unit are full of patients with RSV infections (including bronchiolitis) from April to September, with a peak in June-July. The Melbourne Children’s campus has a long history of RSV associated research, including clinical trials encompassing preventative, supportive and therapeutic strategies.
Before the advent of modern neonatal intensive care in the 1970s, many tiny babies died soon after birth, most commonly because they lacked pulmonary surfactant, leading to respiratory failure. Professor Lex Doyle first treated the breathing problems of tiny babies in the mid-1970s during his basic training in paediatrics.
Chronic wet cough (>4 weeks) is common in children and often considered benign and self-limiting. However, there is increasing evidence to suggest that it may have greater significance, particularly if left untreated. Chronic wet cough, protracted bacterial bronchitis and bronchiectasis share many clinical and pathological features and are postulated to represent a clinical spectrum. With increased access to CT scans, non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis diagnoses are rising.
Our understanding of lung growth through childhood and adolescence and the impact of disease has changed in recent years. New measurement techniques have shown alveolarisation to continue through adolescence. A number of longitudinal studies within the Campus have provided invaluable information on the outcome of childhood asthma into the adult years which, when combined with the outcome studies of extreme prematurity provide new insight into lung growth. Care of the growing lung is important to ensure optimal lung growth through childhood and adolescence to prevent early onset of lung disease in adulthood.
Research at the Melbourne Children’s Campus was recently described in the New England Journal of Medicine as ‘leading to a paradigm shift in our understanding of lung disease in cystic fibrosis’.
