Lung conditions are the most common reason why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people see a doctor and the second most common reason for hospitalisation. Many cases of lung disease seen in adults started in childhood, and many of these lung conditions can be prevented and/or treated if they are recognised and managed before irreversible lung damage occurs.
Our knowledge is limited, both of the clinical course of lung disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, and the factors that hasten its development.
Our research focus:
- To find better ways to treat common lung illnesses and to understand what factors lead to the development of severe lung disease.
- To prevent future chronic disease through awareness-raising and education, and by providing tools to better detect and manage lung problems.
Our research impact:
- Described better ways to diagnose and manage chronic coughs in children through a child-specific ‘cough-pathway’. We documented dramatic reductions in the duration of coughs, from a previous average of 16 weeks to just four weeks. The ‘cough pathway’ will be incorporated into Australian and international guidelines
- Improved the detection and management of chronic suppurative lung disease in children, including the development of evidence-based guidelines
- Launched a respiratory disease web resource called the LungInfoNet. This one-stop shop helps health professionals and others to provide improved health education to Indigenous patients. It includes flipchart resources for respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiolitis.
Key staff:
- Professor Anne Chang
- A/Prof Gabrielle McCallum
- Assoc Prof Heidi Smith-Vaughan
- Professor Peter Morris
- Lesley Versteegh
- Cate Wilson
- Dr Robyn Marsh
- Dr Susan Pizzutto
- Dr Michael Binks
Collaborators:
- Dr Kerry-Ann O’Grady, Associate Professor Ian Masters, Dr Helen Buntain, Dr Ian Mackay, Dr Danielle Wurzel, Dr Helen Petsky and colleagues, Children's Health Queensland and Queensland University of Technology
- Professor Keith Grimwood, Griffith University
- Professor John Upham, University of Queensland and Princess Alexandra Hospital
- Professor Paul Torzillo, University of Sydney
- Associate Professor Theo Sloots, Queensland Paediatric Infectious Disease Laboratory
- Dr Stephanie Yerkovich, University of Queensland and Queensland Lung Transplant Service, Prince Charles Hospital
- Dr Catherine Byrnes, Starship Children's Hospital, Auckland
- Dr Rosalyn Singleton, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Anchorage
- Prof Greg Redding, University of Washington, Seattle
- Associate Professor Allen Cheng, Monash University and The Alfred Hospital
- Professor Peter Gibson and Dr Katherine Baines, University of Newcastle
- Professor Sandra Hodge, Royal Adelaide Hospital
- Dr Andrew Wilson, Princess Margaret Hospital
- Professor Allan Cripps, Griffith University
- Dr Nicolas Wood, University of Sydney, Children’s Hospital Westmead
- Professor Albert Li, Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Associate Professor Anna Nathan, University of Malaya
- Associate Professor Jessie de Bruyne, University of Malaya
- Dr Fong, Likas Children's Hospital, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
- Dr Ooi and Associate Professor David Perera, University of Malaysia Sarawak
- Associate Professor Tsin Yeo, Nanyang Technological University / Imperial College, Singapore
Current projects:
- Australian Bronchiectasis Registry
- Airway bacteriology of children with bronchiectasis
- Pro-Kids Study - Neonatal probiotics to prevent early-onset acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in high-risk children: a multisite, double-blinded, randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- D-Kids: Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections (ARIs) among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory: a randomised placebo-controlled trial
- PAWS - Paediatric Asthma and Wheeze Study- Improving management and outcomes of preschool asthma and paediatric wheeze
- POWERED - Preschool outcomes of wheeze employing reliable ergonomic digital-technology
- LEAP-Cough - Long-term treatment with azithromycin to prevent bronchiectasis and recurrent cough
- SUNFISH - Stronger lungs for First Nations children
Below is a list of selected publications relating to lung health:
- Marsh, R.L., Kaestli, M., Chang, A.B., Binks, M.J., Pope, C.E., Hoffman, L.R., & Smith-Vaughan, H.C. (2016). The microbiota in bronchoalveolar lavage from young children with chronic lung disease includes taxa present in both the oropharynx and nasopharynx. Microbiome. In press.
- Chang, A.B., Bell, S.C., Torzillo, P.J., King, P.T., Maguire, G., Byrnes, C.A., et al. (2015). Chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiectasis in children and adults in Australia and New Zealand. Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand guidelines Medical Journal of Australia, 202,21-23.
- Pizzutto, S.J., Upham, J.W., Yerkovich, S.T., & Chang, A.B. (2015). High pulmonary expression of IL-6 and IL-1β in children with chronic suppurative lung disease is associated with impaired recall responses to non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae. Plos One,10(6), e0129517.
- Hare, K.M., Grimwood, K., Chang, A.B., Morris, P.S., Leach, A.L., Valery, P.C., et al. (2015). Nasopharyngeal carriage and macrolide resistance in Indigenous children with bronchiectasis randomized to long-term azithromycin or placebo. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 34(11), 2275-85.
- McCallum, G.B., Morris, P.S., Grimwood, K., Maclennan, C., White, A.V., Chatfield, M.D., et al. (2015). Three-weekly doses of azithromycin for Indigenous infants hospitalised with bronchiolitis: A multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Frontiers in Paediatrics, 3, 32.
- McCallum, G.B., Versteegh, L.A., Morris, P.S., McKay, C.C., Jacobsen, N., White, A.V., D’Antoine, H., & Chang, A.B. (2014). Mobile phones support adherence and retention of Indigenous participants in a randomised controlled trial: strategies and lessons learnt. BMC Public Health, 14, 622.
- Blake, T.L., Chang, A.B., Petsky, H.L., Rodwell, L., Brown, M., Hill, D.C., McElrea, M.S (2016). Spirometry reference values in Indigenous Australians. A systematic review. Medical Journal of Australia, 205(1), 35-40.
- Goyal, V., Grimwood, K., Marchant, J.M., Masters, I.B., & Chang, A.B. (2016). State of the Art: Bronchiectasis in children: no longer an orphan disease. Pediatric Pulmonol ogy.
- Hodge, S., Hodge, G., Upham, J.W., Pizzutto, S.J., Petsky, H.L., Yerkovich, S.T., et al. (2016). Is alveolar macrophage phagocytic dysfunction in children with protracted bacterial bronchitis a forerunner to bronchiectasis? Chest, 149(2), 508-515.
- Chang, A.B., Marsh, R.L., Upham, J.W., Hoffman, L.R., Smith-Vaughan, H., Holt, D., et al on behalf of the CRE extended group. (2015). Towards making inroads in reducing the disparity of lung health in Australian Indigenous and New Zealand Māori children. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 3, 9.
Click here to view more lung publications in PubMed.
Respiratory app:
Respiratory flipcharts:
Paediatric:
- Asthma (short wind in children)
- Bronchiolitis (lower respiratory tract infection)
- Pneumonia
- Chronic suppurative lung disease bronchiectasis (chronic lung sickness).
Adult:
- Asthma in adults
- Pneumonia
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Chronic lung sickness (Bronchiectasis).
Respiratory posters:
Paediatric:
Action plans:
