ERS Congress 2024: highlights from the Paediatrics Assembly

Abstract

At #ERSCongress 2024, experts highlighted the need to address healthcare disparities, prevent disease progression and assess the value of AI-driven care to improve outcomes in paediatric respiratory health https://bit.ly/40944lv.

FIGURE 1

The mechanism of poverty and health inequalities. The inverse care law is the principle that the availability of good medical and social care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served. Adverse factors: air pollution, limited access to good social and medical care, exposure to illicit drugs, tobacco smoke and vaping, lack of playgrounds, lack of access to medication and healthy food, lack of education. Protective factors: breastfeeding, outdoor playgrounds, clean air, access to good social and medical care, antimicrobial stewardship, access to healthy food and medication, education system. Adapted with approval from the presentation of Ian Sinha, ERS Congress 2024 in Vienna.

FIGURE 2

Preventing progression to asthma in children with preschool wheeze. Severe frequent wheeze attacks are a risk factor for asthma progression. Both airway inflammation and airway dysbiosis should be targeted to reduce attacks, and prevent asthma progression and long-term adverse consequences. Skin prick tests and point-of-care tests of blood eosinophils should be performed to assess which child might benefit from inhaled corticosteroids. Children with airway dysbiosis (based upon induced sputum or bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) assessment) might benefit from targeted antibiotics/bacterial lysates. Furthermore, research indicates a crucial role for structural cells and airway remodelling as a risk factor for asthma progression. Adapted with approval from the presentation of Sejal Saglani, ERS Congress 2024 in Vienna. Created with BioRender.com.