Latest news with #bronchiolitis
Medscape
2 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Nirsevimab Cuts Bronchiolitis Cases in Young Infants
Nirsevimab implementation in Catalonia, Spain, was associated with a 44% reduction in emergency department (ED) visits for bronchiolitis in infants younger than 6 months and a 48% reduction in hospital admissions compared with previous seasons. The multinational study analyzed 1,574,392 ED visits and 255,689 hospital admissions across Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a multinational retrospective analysis of ED visits and admissions at 68 hospitals in Catalonia (Spain), one hospital in Rome (Italy), and four hospitals in the United Kingdom from May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2024. Analysis included data for all diagnoses, respiratory diagnoses excluding bronchiolitis, and bronchiolitis diagnoses for different age groups (< 6 months, 6-11 months, and 12-23 months). A generalized linear model in Poisson regression was utilized to obtain risk ratio and 95% CI of bronchiolitis in the 2023-2024 season compared with a mean of previous seasons, excluding 2020-2021 (as a COVID year). TAKEAWAY: In Catalonia, the risk ratio was 0.52 (95% CI, 0.48-0.55) for bronchiolitis-related hospital admissions in infants aged less than 6 months in the 2023-2024 season compared with previous years. ED visits for bronchiolitis in Catalonia showed a risk ratio of 0.56 (95% CI, 0.54-0.58) for infants younger than 6 months and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.97) for infants aged 6-11 months. No significant reduction in risk ratio for ED visits or admissions was observed in the 2023-2024 season at other study sites in the United Kingdom and Italy. According to the authors, the effect of nirsevimab was less clear in older infants aged 6-11 and 12-23 months. IN PRACTICE: 'Nirsevimab had a clear impact in reducing attendances and admissions for infants with bronchiolitis aged < 6 months in Catalonia. However, the impact on older infants was less clear, making it unrealistic to imagine a substantial change in the epidemiology of infants accessing EDs or inpatient wards, at least in the near future,' wrote the authors of the study. SOURCE: The study was led by Aida Perramon-Malavez, Computational Biology and Complex Systems Group, Department of Physics, Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. It was published online in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe . LIMITATIONS: As a retrospective analysis, the study faced several limitations. The proportion of visits and admissions coded as bronchiolitis varied widely across countries, potentially due to coding differences or health system factors rather than true epidemiological differences. The researchers could not directly match all diagnoses in International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, to Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms codes. Limited virology testing of ED visits prevented determination of the relative contribution of respiratory syncytial virus toward the disease burden in the studied seasons. DISCLOSURES: Damian Roland disclosed receiving grants from Wellcome Trust, Respiratory Syncytial Virus Consortium in Europe, Imperial College London, and National Institute for Health Research. Antoni Soriano-Arandes reported receiving consulting fees and honoraria for lectures from Sanofi, MSD, and Pfizer, along with grants from La Marató de TV3. Additional disclosures are noted in the original article.
Medscape
22-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Air Pollution: A Risk Factor for Infant Bronchiolitis
Infants aged 2 years or younger with bronchiolitis faced an increased risk for hospitalization due to air pollution, with a meta-analysis indicating a positive association between exposure to elevated levels of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants and the risk for hospitalization — an association that was significant only for PM with a diameter ≤ 10 μm. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the association between air pollution and the risk for hospitalization due to bronchiolitis in infants aged 2 years or younger. Among the included studies, 23 were included for systematic review and 13 were included for eight separate meta-analyses. The analysis focused on the most commonly studied pollutants — PM with a diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5), PM with a diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM10), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Their impact was examined over short-term (within 1 week), medium-term (within 1 month), and long-term (over 1 month) exposure periods. TAKEAWAY: In the systematic review, most individual studies found an increase in the risk for bronchiolitis-related hospitalization with short-, medium-, and long-term exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2. Meta-analyses demonstrated a 2%-9% increase in the risk for bronchiolitis-related hospitalization with exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2; however, statistical significance was observed only for short-term PM10 exposure (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.05-1.09). IN PRACTICE: 'Given that some of the air pollutants associated with hospitalization are well-established traffic-related compounds (eg, NO2), traffic mitigation strategies might play a relevant role in limiting the burden of bronchiolitis in infants,' the authors wrote. SOURCE: Gregorio Paolo Milani, MD, with the University of Milan, Milan, Italy, was the corresponding author of the study, which was published online on May 13 in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology . LIMITATIONS: Reliance on estimates rather than direct measurements of odds ratios may have overestimated associations, and significant variability in study designs, exposure assessment methods, and control for confounders complicated the comparisons. Additionally, fixed-site monitoring data may not have accurately captured individual-level exposures. DISCLOSURES: This study was partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Health. The authors reported having no conflicts of interest.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
I was on the roof smoking weed as my baby girl fought for her life in hospital – and I used the drug constantly through both of my pregnancies. This is the startling truth about being a middle-class 'addict': ELIZABETH WALKER
Lying motionless in a hospital bed, surrounded by beeping machines attached by wires to her tiny body, my four-month-old daughter was fighting for her life. As a new mother, I felt guilty for not spotting the signs of bronchiolitis, a viral lung infection that can leave infants gasping for breath, before it got this far.
