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Asthma affects > 10% of children in Australia and New Zealand (NZ), with up to 5% of those having severe disease, presenting a management challenge. We aimed to survey tertiary paediatric respiratory services across Australia and NZ using a custom-designed questionnaire, to conduct a cross-sectional observational study of the numbers of children with problematic severe asthma seen, the number treated with biologic therapy, outpatient clinic/multidisciplinary team services available, investigations and tools routinely used and approaches utilised for transition to adult care.

The airway epithelium is the primary structural and functional airway barrier and orchestrates innate immunity. Some children may have underlying epithelial vulnerabilities that contribute to the pathogenesis of acute wheeze and asthma.

Asthma affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is frequently associated with other medical conditions in adults, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischaemic heart disease, and stroke. Despite the huge burden, there has been little progress toward prevention and cure, possibly related to a one-size-fits-all approach.

Early childhood wheeze is a major risk factor for asthma. However, not all children who wheeze will develop the disease. The airway epithelium has been shown to be involved in asthma pathogenesis. Despite this, the airway epithelium of children with acute wheeze remains poorly characterized.

nfants with frequent viral and bacterial respiratory infections exhibit compromised immunity to routine immunizations. They are also more likely to develop chronic respiratory diseases in later childhood. This study investigated the feasibility of epigenetic profiling to reveal endotype-specific molecular pathways with potential for early identification and immuno-modulation. 

The twenty-first century has seen a fundamental shift in disease epidemiology with anthropogenic environmental change emerging as the likely dominant factor affecting the distribution and severity of current and future human disease. This is especially true of allergic diseases and asthma with their intimate relationship with the natural environment.

Globally, more than 1.2 billion inhalers are purchased for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) annually. In Australia and New Zealand, pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDIs) are the leading delivery device prescribed and pMDI salbutamol can be purchased over the counter in Australia. These inhalers are a major contributor to healthcare related greenhouse gases. 

In this review, we provide an overview of food allergy genetics and epigenetics aimed at clinicians and researchers. This includes a brief review of the current understanding of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, inheritance of food allergy, as well as a discussion of advantages and limitations of the different types of studies in genetic research. 

Ensitrelvir, a 3C-like protease inhibitor, received emergency approval in Japan in November 2022 for treating non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. However, confirmation of its real-world clinical effectiveness is limited.

Obesity is a contributing factor to asthma severity; while it has long been understood that obesity is related to greater asthma burden, the mechanisms though which this occurs have not been fully elucidated. One common explanation is that obesity mechanically reduces lung volume through accumulation of adipose tissue external to the thoracic cavity.