A new Australian study that looked at the long term impacts of early lung infections in young kids with cystic fibrosis has recommended changes to monitoring techniques to help improve lung health.
The study is the first of its kind to follow a large group of children with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), from birth through to early school age, who were diagnosed following newborn screening.
Its results show that early lung infections modify the progression of disease, resulting in significant impairments to lung function.
The research, recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine is a collaboration between The Kids Research Institute Australia (Perth), Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (Perth), The Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne) and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (Melbourne) as part of the AREST CF (Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis) program.
Lead Author Dr Kathryn Ramsey from The Kids Research Institute Australia says the results show that a range of bacteria known to cause inflammation in the lung can lead to poorer outcomes in young children suffering from cystic fibrosis.
"This study is unique in that it's the first time researchers have been able to follow children with CF over such a long period of time and to see how bacterial infections in the first few years of life go on to impact on their lung health as they reach school age." said Dr Ramsey.
"Over ten years we have been able to collect important data on the progression of disease in these children. Our data tells us that what happens in the first two years is important for the child's long term health.
"We believe we now need early surveillance to better target these infections and improve the long term outcomes for children with CF."
"Most centres already screen for, and treat, the most common type of bacteria found in CF called Pseudomonas aeruginosa or PSA."
"What our most recent long-term data suggests is that we also need to test for and target additional pathogens that can cause lung problems for children with CF."
Researchers say the results could change the way we think about treating young children with CF and that by detecting and targeting these pathogens within the first two years of a child's life, the better the long term lung health prospects will be.