Respiratory mechanics in healthy African infants detect risk of respiratory illness in early life

What is it about?

Lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) is a leading cause of sickness and death in children. In order to understand which infants are at risk of developing LRTI and to assess the impact of LRTI on the subsequent health of a child, we need sensitive measures of lung function that can be easily collected with minimal disturbance to a baby. It is possible to collect this information in a sleeping baby who is breathing through a face mask. We assessed a new method of measuring lung function, the intra-breath forced oscillation technique, and found that it was feasible in healthy 6-week infants. Unlike the standard measurements of infant lung function, it was able to detect changes in lung function in healthy 6-week infants that were associated with developing LRTI during the first year of life. This study has shown that this new technique provides a safe, sophisticated and useful assessment of lung function in unsedated infants.

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Why is it important?

Lower respiratory tract illness (LRTI) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in children.

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