The effect of an educational intervention on high school students' knowledge about vaping-related risks and expressed desire to quit vaping.

Aim: Electronic cigarette use (vaping) has increased rapidly among adolescents globally. Most electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) contain nicotine, which is addictive and can cause behaviour problems and mood dysregulation. We sought to assess whether an educational intervention increased knowledge about vaping-related health risks and desire to quit among high school students.

Cough and cough hypersensitivity as treatable traits of asthma.

Cough is a common and troublesome symptom in people with asthma and is often associated with poorer asthma control and exacerbations. Apart from asthma, other causes or comorbidities might underlie cough in asthma, such as rhinosinusitis and bronchiectasis. Eosinophilic inflammation and bronchoconstriction can lead to an acute episode of cough or worsen chronic cough.

Sputum inflammatory, neural, and remodeling mediators in eosinophilic and noneosinophilic asthma.

Background: Neural and remodeling mechanisms may play a role in asthma, particularly noneosinophilic asthma (NEA).

Objective: To assess sputum mediators associated with neural, remodeling, and inflammatory mechanisms in eosinophilic asthma (EA), NEA, and participants without asthma.

Methods: A total of 111 participants with and 62 without asthma (14-21 years old) underwent sputum induction, exhaled nitric oxide, atopy, and spirometry tests.

E-cigarette use patterns, brand preference and knowledge about vaping among teenagers (13-16 years) and parents of children attending Christchurch Hospital.

Aim: Parents attending hospital with children in New Zealand are routinely asked about tobacco use, but information about vaping is lacking. We assessed e-cigarette use, brand preferences, and knowledge during paediatric outpatient attendance at Christchurch Hospital.

Method: We undertook an anonymous online survey of teenagers and parents attending paediatric outpatient clinic in December 2021 to February 2022.

Heart rate variability as a marker of autonomic nervous system activity in young people with eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic asthma.

Objective: An imbalance in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity may play a role in asthma, but it is unclear whether this is associated with specific pathophysiology. This study assessed ANS activity by measuring heart rate variability (HRV) in eosinophilic (EA) and non-eosinophilic asthma (NEA) and people without asthma.

Methods: HRV, combined hypertonic saline challenge/sputum induction, exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), skin prick tests to measure atopy, and spirometry tests were conducted in teenagers and young adults (14-21 years) with ( = 96) and without ( = 72) generally well-controlled asthma.

Enhanced airway sensory nerve reactivity in non-eosinophilic asthma.

Background: Neural mechanisms may play an important role in non-eosinophilic asthma (NEA). This study compared airway sensory nerve reactivity, using capsaicin challenge, in eosinophilic asthma (EA) and NEA and non-asthmatics.

Methods: Thirty-eight asthmatics and 19 non-asthmatics (aged 14-21 years) underwent combined hypertonic saline challenge/sputum induction, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, atopy and spirometry tests, followed by capsaicin challenge.

Global health classroom: mixed methods evaluation of an interinstitutional model for reciprocal global health learning among Samoan and New Zealand medical students.

Background: Global health education partnerships should be collaborative and reciprocal to ensure mutual benefit. Utilisation of digital technologies can overcome geographic boundaries and facilitate collaborative global health learning. Global Health Classroom (GHCR) is a collaborative global health learning model involving medical students from different countries learning about each other's health systems, cultures, and determinants of health via videoconference.

Electronic cigarettes: A position statement from the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

The TSANZ develops position statements where insufficient data exist to write formal clinical guidelines. In 2018, the TSANZ addressed the question of potential benefits and health impacts of electronic cigarettes (EC). The working party included groups focused on health impacts, smoking cessation, youth issues and priority populations.

Exposure of to bactericidal hypochlorous acid during neutrophil phagocytosis is compromised in cystic fibrosis.

Myeloperoxidase is a major neutrophil antimicrobial protein, but its role in immunity is often overlooked because individuals deficient in this enzyme are usually in good health. Within neutrophil phagosomes, myeloperoxidase uses superoxide generated by the NADPH oxidase to oxidize chloride to the potent bactericidal oxidant hypochlorous acid (HOCl). In this study, using phagocytosis assays and LC-MS analyses, we monitored GSH oxidation in to gauge their exposure to HOCl inside phagosomes.

Changes in asthma severity in the first year of school and difficulty learning to read.

Asthma is a risk factor for poor early reading in children, for reasons that are unclear. This analysis examines the relationship between changes in asthma severity during the first year of school and being in the lowest quartile of reading achievement after 1 year of school. We used previously unreported data from our cohort study.

Hair nicotine at 15 months old, tobacco exposure and wheeze or asthma from 15 months to 6 years old.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between hair nicotine levels at 15 months of age and prior parent-reported smoking exposure, and the risk of wheezing and current asthma from 15 months to 6 years of age.

Study Design: We measured hair nicotine levels at 15 months of age in 376 of 535 infants enrolled in a prospective birth cohort in Christchurch, New Zealand. We obtained detailed information from parents about smoking exposure during pregnancy and in the home at 3 and 15 months of age.

Missed opportunities for antimicrobial stewardship in pre-school children admitted to hospital with lower respiratory tract infection.

Aim: To describe the usage of multiplex polymerase chain reaction on nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) samples in pre-school children presenting with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) at Christchurch Hospital, and its impact on the use of antibiotics empirically and at discharge.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 237 children, ages 3 months to 5 years, admitted to hospital during the winter months of 2012-2015 with a diagnosis of community-acquired LRTI. Children were identified by discharge coding and their notes reviewed.

Tobacco or healthy children: the two cannot co-exist.

Tobacco exposure increases mortality and morbidity of the fetus, the child, the adolescent, and their children in turn. Nearly half the children in the world are exposed. Smoking is not merely personal choice or personal responsibility; those subtle phrases undermine those who have no choice in the matter.

Infant wheeze: is asthma a possibility?

Most infant wheeze is not asthma. Nonetheless, infants are able to develop reversible airway obstruction with or without allergic sensitisation, and asthma does occur at this age. The many other causes of infant wheeze, however, make asthma more difficult to distinguish from the background 'noise'.

Time trends, ethnicity and risk factors for eczema in New Zealand children: ISAAC Phase Three.

Background: Eczema is a common chronic disease which has significant morbidity and costs for children and their families. Phase One (1993) of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) found a high prevalence of symptoms of eczema in New Zealand.

Objective: In Phase Three (2001-3) we aimed to answer these three questions: Is the prevalence of eczema changing over time?; Are there ethnic differences in prevalence?; and What are the risk factors for eczema?

Methods: Five New Zealand centres participated in ISAAC Phases One and Three using the same methodology.

Time trends and risk factors for rhinoconjunctivitis in New Zealand children: an International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) survey.

Aim: To investigate prevalence, time trends and factors associated with rhinitis and rhinoconjunctivitis not related to acute infections in New Zealand.

Methods: The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) surveyed children aged 6-7 and 13-14 years for symptoms of these conditions. Five New Zealand centres were surveyed on two occasions (Phase One and Phase Three) 8-10 years apart.

Selenium status and allergic disease in a cohort of New Zealand children.

Background: New Zealand has one of the highest rates of asthma and atopy. Selenium has been implicated in the aetiology of asthma, and associations between low selenium status and asthma in New Zealand children have been reported.

Objective: The aim was to investigate the association between selenium status and allergic disease in a birth cohort of New Zealand children.

Breastfeeding protects against current asthma up to 6 years of age.

Objective: To investigate the effects of breastfeeding on wheezing and current asthma in children 2 to 6 years of age.

Study Design: Infants (n=1105) were enrolled in a prospective birth cohort in New Zealand. Detailed information about infant feeding was collected using questionnaires administered at birth and at 3, 6, and 15 months.

Asthma, atopy and exhaled nitric oxide in a cohort of 6-yr-old New Zealand children.

Background: Exhaled nitric oxide has been promoted as a non-invasive measure of airway inflammation, with clinical utility for the diagnosis and management of asthma.

Aim: We studied associations between exhaled nitric oxide, asthma and atopy in a variety of clinically relevant phenotypes in a cohort of 6-yr-old children.

Method: Asthma was defined using standard questionnaire criteria, atopy was measured using skin prick tests (SPT) and specific IgE to common allergens, and exhaled nitric oxide was measured using a chemiluminescence analyser according to American and European Thoracic Society criteria.