Menzies researcher Dr Robyn Marsh is working hard to ensure that kids have better access to testing and care to improve their respiratory health. 

She has recently been awarded the 2020 Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship, a four-year research grant that will enable her to improve understanding of disease processes underlying chronic wet cough.

Persistent bacterial bronchitis, also known as chronic wet cough, is a common condition in children. Left untreated, this condition can progress to bronchiectasis, a severe lung disease that causes permanent lung damage and can reduce life-expectancy.

In Australia, 41 per cent of children newly-referred to respiratory specialists have persistent bronchitis and 9 per cent have bronchiectasis. Although most children with persistent bronchitis initially respond to two to four weeks of antibiotics, 44 per cent have recurrent episodes and 16 per cent progress to bronchiectasis within two years.

Breaking the cycle of repeated bronchitis episodes requires treatments that target the bacteria causing the underlying respiratory infection. The current gold-standard test for diagnosing respiratory infections in young children requires general anaesthesia. As this is not always feasible or suitable, children are commonly treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics.

In bronchiectasis, antibiotics may be given for up to two years to prevent further lung damage. Though essential to care, this treatment risks increasing antibiotic resistance and may impact the child’s gut microbiome.

Dr Marsh aims to translate knowledge about the complex combinations of bacteria that drive persistent bronchitis into new diagnostics that will be validated by clinical trials. Her research goal is to develop diagnostic tests that improve paediatric respiratory care, reduce the need for long-term antibiotic therapies and that can be delivered in urban and remote areas.

For more information about our lung health research, visit www.menzies.edu.au/lungs