The 7th World Bronchiectasis Conference is being held in Dundee, Scotland, from July 4th – 6th 2024. The venue for the conference is – University of Dundee, Dalhousie Building. The conference program has been designed to fulfil the educational and updating needs of the professions operating in the following specialities: Infectious diseases Paediatrics Respiratory Medicine Internal Medicine Physiotherapy Specialised nurses Microbiology and biology Radiology For more information, visit – www.world-bronchiectasis-conference.org/2024/   The post 7th World Bronchiectasis Conference appeared ..read more

The 7th World Bronchiectasis Conference will be held in Dundee Scotland from July 4th – 6th 2024. Topics will include: Aetiology and Physiopathology (including inflammation, genomics etc) Comorbidities and overlaps (including CF, COPD etc) Epidemiology and Registries Exacerbations Imaging NTM Infections (including ABP, Pseudomonas, Hemophilus etc) PCD Precision Medicine Respiratory Physiotherapy and Airway Clearance Treatments and New Drugs From: wbc@lena.events   •  Aetiology & Physiopathology (including inflammation, genomics, etc.) • AATD •  ..read more

Respiratory follow-up to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children: twelve key steps. Pamela Laird et al. Open AccessPublished:August 05, 2021DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100239 Aboriginal children have higher rates of hospitalisation for acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI) and experience more severe disease than non-Aboriginal children in Australia regardless of where they live. In Western Australia (WA), the burden is particularly high, with admission rates for ALRI’s and pneumonia 7•5 and ~14 times higher respectively, in Aboriginal children compared to non-Aborigina ..read more

A new website, called Strong Lungs, has been launched that is specifically designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults with bronchiectasis. The website, developed in collaboration with local communities in Danila Dilba in Darwin and Maningrida in Arnhem Land, includes nine health education videos. These videos have been translated into several local languages – Yolngu Matha, Kriol, Walpari, Pitjantjatjara, Tiwi and Burrara. This is the first chronic lung disease resource for First Nation adults in local languages and includes downloadable handouts for patient use. The post Strong ..read more

Medical management of bronchiectasis: more MDT would help Patients with bronchiectasis may be missing out on some aspects of best practice care, according to a Melbourne study. The retrospective review of 145 patients with bronchiectasis managed in the general respiratory clinic at the Royal Melbourne Hospital between 2015 and 2016 found many aspects of patient care were concordant with guidelines. Comprehensive assessment of lung function by spirometry was available for 98% of patients. Long-term antibiotics were appropriately limited to a minority of patients (34%) including those with indi ..read more

Neutrophil extracellular traps, disease severity, and antibiotic response in bronchiectasis: an international, observational, multicohort study This research identifies, for the first time, neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation in the lungs of patients with bronchiectasis and demonstrates that the presence of NETs is associated with disease severity, severe exacerbations and mortality. Additionally, NET levels can be reduced through macrolide and antibiotic therapies, leading to improved outcomes for patients. Source – the limbic March 2021 The post Neutrophil extracellular traps – bro ..read more

Free training module for paediatric respiratory disease Chronic respiratory disease is prevalent among Aboriginal children but most doctors never had the opportunity to learn about Aboriginal paediatric lung health or were given tools to take a respiratory history in a culturally appropriate way. This module will give health practitioners skills to engage effectively with Aboriginal parents when it comes to the respiratory health of their children.  This module includes information on protracted bacterial bronchitis, chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiectasis -conditions often ov ..read more

Bronchiectasis among Australian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients in the regional and remote population of the Northern Territory of Australia Purpose: Chronic respiratory disorders are highly prevalent among Australian Aboriginal people living in the Top End Health Service region, Northern Territory of Australia.  Bronchiectasis is a heterogenous disease that features among these chronic respiratory conditions in this population. However, there are sparse comparative data between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients with bronchiectasis from this region. Methods: In this ..read more

A novel anti-inflammatory treatment for bronchiectasis that targets neutrophils has shown promising results in a phase 2 trial. In findings presented at ATS 2020 virtual meeting, brensocatib, a reversible inhibitor of dipeptidyl peptidase-1 (DPP1 inhibitor) showed positive effects against bronchietasis exacerbations in patients with non-CF bronchiectasis. Professor James Chalmers, British Lung Foundation Professor of Respiratory Research at the University of Dundee, said the premise of the study was to target the products of uncontrolled neutrophilic inflammation and serum protease activa ..read more

Vitamin D deficiency is common in adults with bronchiectasis and may be linked to radiological findings indicative of poor lung function, a study reports. The study, “Vitamin D Deficiency and Radiological Findings in Adult Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis,” was published in the Turkish Thoracic Journal. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally found in certain foods and can also be produced in the skin in response to sunlight. It is involved in several functions in the body, including the control of the immune system and protection against certain disease ..read more