Respirology

Top Medical News
Long COVID: What are the risk and protective factors?
Natalia Reoutova, 22 hours ago

A population-based, multicentre study finds female gender, transportation-, logistics- or discipline-related occupation, living with domestic workers, smoking, poor or very poor self-perceived health status, ≥3 chronic diseases, chronic medication use, and critical severity of COVID-19 to be associated with severe long COVID, while prior receipt of ≥2 doses of COVID-19 vaccines serves as a protective factor.

Remdesivir cuts mortality in COVID-19 patients requiring no or low-flow oxygen
Audrey Abella, 2 days ago
In a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis, the broad-spectrum antiviral agent remdesivir reduced mortality in adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who did not require oxygen support or only required low-flow supplementation when the need for oxygen arose.
Cardiorespiratory fitness change linked to survival in patients with or without CVD
3 days ago
Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) appear to predict the risk of mortality in patients with and without cardiovascular disease (CVD), suggest the results of a study.
SGLT2 - renal & respiratory outcomes
Kanas Chan, 3 days ago
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors reduce the risks of respiratory and renal diseases vs dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), researchers from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have reported.
pneumonia1
Kanas Chan, 4 days ago
Arched bridge and/or vacuole signs on CT may support a diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia and assist in differentiation from influenza and bacterial pneumonia, a retrospective study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong has revealed. 
COVID-19 vaccine risk-benefit ratio favourable for patients with rheumatic diseases
Audrey Abella, 4 days ago
In the CONVIN-SING* study, there was a favourable risk-benefit ratio for COVID-19 vaccination in individuals with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) who have received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine.
Biologics lower exacerbation rates in severe asthma, allergic rhinitis
Elaine Soliven, 4 days ago
Treatment with either omalizumab (anti-immunoglobulin E [anti-IgE]) or nonomalizumab (non-anti-IgE) biologics reduced exacerbations in patients with severe asthma and allergic rhinitis, with the benefits being more evident among those taking nonomalizumab agents, according to the CHRONICLE trial presented at AAAAI 2023.
Special Reports
The role of oral antivirals in COVID-19 treatment: Who, when, and how?
Dr. Roger Paredes, Dr. Nicola Petrosillo, Dr. Petrick Periyasamy, 30 Jan 2023

Though most countries have eased pandemic restrictions, there is no room for complacency in managing COVID-19, which continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality.

At a recent symposium, esteemed experts Dr Roger Paredes, Head of Department of Infectious Diseases at the Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, and Dr Nicola Petrosillo, Head of the Infection Prevention and Control and Infectious Disease Service at University Hospital Campus Bio-Medico, Rome, Italy, gave global perspectives on the continuing unmet needs in the COVID-19 outpatient landscape and discussed the role of antiviral treatment options in patients at risk of progressing to severe COVID-19. Dr Petrick Periyasamy, Head of Infectious Diseases Unit, Medical Department, UKM Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, chaired the session.

Multipathogen testing an essential part of Test-Target-Treat strategy for respiratory illnesses
Dr. Mohan Ravuru, Dr. Johnny Sinon, Assoc Prof. Nuntra Suwantarat, 16 Dec 2022

At a recent webinar, experts discussed the paradigm shift in respiratory illnesses and treatment practices as the COVID-19 pandemic transitions to an endemic phase. The late Dr Mohan Ravuru, Physician Researcher and former Asia Pacific Medical Director, Abbott, Dr Johnny Sinon, Senior Emergency Physician from Makati Medical Center, Philippines, and Associate Professor Nuntra Suwantarat, Infectious Disease Specialist, from Chulabhorn International College of Medicine, Thammasat University, Thailand, delivered informative presentations and engaged the audience through a stimulating panel discussion.

Among the topics covered were the ‘immunity debt’ phenomenon leading to potential epidemics, challenges in the differential diagnosis of COVID-19 and influenza, and the importance of point-of-care, multipathogen testing as a part of the Test-Target-Treat strategy in respiratory diseases.

Timely treatment of patients at risk for severe COVID-19 prevents severe outcomes
Dr. Asok Kurup, Dr. Alex Soriano, 31 Oct 2022

Despite widespread uptake of vaccinations, COVID-19 remains a serious health issue for high-risk patients, owing to the emergence of new variants of concern (VOCs), waning immunity, and breakthrough infections.

At a recent symposium in Singapore, esteemed experts Dr Asok Kurup, Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, Singapore, and Dr Alex Soriano, Head of Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic of Barcelona and Assistant Professor, University of Barcelona, Spain, gave insights on the evolution of global trends since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and discussed key challenges in managing high-risk patients with COVID-19 in the ICU. They also highlighted early treatment strategies to minimize the burden of COVID-19 on healthcare systems.

Kids hard-hit by Delta; which ART performs best?
Elvira Manzano, 24 Oct 2021
That COVID-19 mostly spared children might be changing. The Delta variant has taken a severe, unthinkable toll on kids – at least in Arkansas, US, reports an expert at IDWeek 2021.
Rapid antigen test: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good
Pearl Toh, 23 Oct 2021
While rapid antigen test is less sensitive than conventional nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) such as RT-PCR* in detecting SARS-CoV-2 virus, “a test does not have to be perfect to be clinically useful,” said Professor Angela Caliendo during a session in IDWeek 2021 — echoing the maxim that perfect should not be the enemy of good in the pandemic era.
ID NOW rapid molecular assay an effective COVID-19 test for kids
Roshini Claire Anthony, 20 Oct 2021

A large retrospective study from the US, presented at IDWeek 2021, has shown that the Abbott ID NOW rapid molecular COVID-19 assay is highly sensitive and specific at detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in a paediatric population.

Antigen rapid tests: The new COVID-19 strategy moving forward?
Roshini Claire Anthony, 31 Jul 2021

Same-day pre-event screening for SARS-CoV-2 using antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDT) may enable the resumption of large-scale indoor events which were halted or had their attendance capacity reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study from Spain presented at ECCMID 2021.

Conference Reports
Biologics lower exacerbation rates in severe asthma, allergic rhinitis
Elaine Soliven, 28 Mar 2023
Treatment with either omalizumab (anti-immunoglobulin E [anti-IgE]) or nonomalizumab (non-anti-IgE) biologics reduced exacerbations in patients with severe asthma and allergic rhinitis, with the benefits being more evident among those taking nonomalizumab agents, according to the CHRONICLE trial presented at AAAAI 2023.
VANGUARD sets the stage for a novel biologic in HAE
Elvira Manzano, 27 Mar 2023
Monthly injections of the investigational biologic garadacimab substantially reduced the mean attack rate in patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE) in the phase III VANGUARD trial.
Long-term dupilumab proven safe, effective in children with asthma
Stephen Padilla, 24 Mar 2023
Long-term treatment with dupilumab is well tolerated, and its efficacy in children with uncontrolled, moderate-to-severe asthma as seen in the VOYAGE study is consistent, according to the EXCURSION open-label extension study. In addition, patients who switched from placebo to dupilumab has improved rapid lung function.
Can a cancer drug be repurposed for allergic reactions?
Audrey Abella, 22 Mar 2023
A small but promising study showed that acalabrutinib, an oral BTK* inhibitor approved for B-cell malignancies**, may reduce or even prevent clinical reactivity to peanuts in peanut-allergic adults.
Smoking cessation intervention during lung screening may encourage quitting
Roshini Claire Anthony, 05 Dec 2022

A smoking cessation intervention, introduced as part of lung health screening, may encourage quitting in about 30 percent of smokers, results of the UK-based YESS* trial showed.

NADIM II suggests PFS, OS benefits of nivolumab + chemo in resectable NSCLC
Roshini Claire Anthony, 02 Nov 2022

Adding nivolumab to paclitaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting boosted progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with resectable stage IIIA–B non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to results of the phase II NADIM II trial from Spain.

Atezolizumab may improve OS in resected NSCLC with PD-L1 ≥1 percent
Roshini Claire Anthony, 16 Oct 2022

The first interim analysis of the phase III IMpower010 trial suggests an overall survival (OS) benefit with atezolizumab compared with best supportive care (BSC) in patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with PD-L1* tumour cell expression 1 percent.