Topics
Respiratory disease
The health and economic burden of breathlessness, Australia, 2019: a national survey
Breathlessness imposes major burdens on individuals, the health care system, and the economy
Anthony P Sunjaya · Leanne M Poulos · Gian Luca Di Tanna · Thomas Lung · Guy B Marks · Helen K Reddel · Christine R Jenkins
Smouldering COVID‐19 XBB.1.5. subvariant pneumonitis: a case report
A 64-year-old man of European descent presented to a tertiary hospital in the Northern Territory with a four-week history of fevers, headaches, coughing and dyspnoea
Sara Davison · Tanmay Kanitkar · Dimitrios Menouhos · Thomas Ewin · Catherine S Marshall · Peter Boan · Sonja Janson
The Alfred Health post‐COVID‐19 service, Melbourne, 2020–2022: an observational cohort study
To the Editor: Holland and colleagues reported on the Alfred Health post‐COVID‐19 service experience with the health of patients who had previously been hospitalised, or managed in a hospital‐in‐the‐home setting, with COVID‐19.1 Participants responded to an invitation to register for follow‐up, and then completed a questionnaire. The study also included a separate group (13% of the cohort) who were not necessarily admitted to Alfred Health but lived in the Alfred Health catchment — and might have been managed as outpatients or inpatients in another service but were referred by their local doctors to a specialist clinic targeted for patients with symptoms after initial COVID‐19, and subsequently completed the questionnaire. Sixty per cent of respondents had at least one persistent symptom at eight weeks. The study reported apparently high prevalences of other symptoms, such as post‐traumatic stress disorder in 23%. These results are derived from their cohort and may not be generally applicable. The authors caution: “We could not distinguish between new symptoms and those attributable to other health conditions. Our study did not include a contemporary control group”.1 More importantly, there was no control group of patients hospitalised from non‐COVID‐19 viral illness (with sufficient severe illness to lead to almost 5% spending time in an intensive care unit), who were then concentrated by an invitation, and then sufficiently motivated to fill out a questionnaire. Plausibly in such a group, at eight weeks, 60% would report at least one persistent symptom. Interpretation of their results is also obscured by the patients referred from the community, who came from a bigger population of patients with COVID‐19 concentrated to include only those who sought or agreed to a referral to a specialist follow‐up clinic. The authors wisely identified weaknesses and they should be applauded for their review of their experience. More definitive conclusions about higher rates of persisting ill health caused by COVID‐19 (in comparison to similarly severe infectious illness) might be achieved if they can follow this up — as they perhaps recognise — with a prospective analytic design in a cohort of patients presenting with similar severity of viral illness comparing those with and without COVID‐19 over the long term.
Jeremy L Millar
Asbestosis in an Australian brake mechanic
A 76-year-old man presented with progressive breathlessness and dry cough
Aruvi Thiruvarudchelvan · Elizabeth Silverstone · Deborah Yates
Outcomes for people admitted to Australian and New Zealand intensive care units with primary, exacerbating, or incidental SARS‐CoV‐2 infections, 2022–23: a retrospective analysis of ANZICS data
SARS-CoV-2 infections are still associated with poorer clinical outcomes for people admitted to ICUs
Alastair Brown · Andrew Udy · Martyn Kirk · Sonya Bennett · Shaila Chavan · Sue Huckson · David Pilcher
Which reference equation should we use for interpreting spirometry values for First Nations Australians? A cross‐sectional study
The normal spirometry values of healthy First Nations Australians may be substantially higher than previously reported
Andrew J Collaro · Rachel Foong · Anne B Chang · Julie M Marchant · Tamara L Blake · Johanna F Cole · Glenn Pearson · Rebecca Hii · Henry Brown · Mark D Chatfield · Graham Hall · Margaret S McElrea
Cough in Children and Adults: Diagnosis, Assessment and Management (CICADA). Summary of an updated position statement on chronic cough in Australia
Julie M Marchant · Anne B Chang · Peter AB Wark
Catheter‐related superior vena cava syndrome: an increasing problem
A 16-year-old female patient with cystic fibrosis developed recurrent pleural effusions, facial plethora and prominent chest wall veins
John J Harvey · John I Vrazas · Elhamy Bekhit · Chris Barnes · Philip J Robinson
The effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination for protecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infants against infection, 2012–2017: a retrospective cohort study
Increasing the pertussis vaccination rate requires culturally appropriate strategies co-designed with local organisations and communities
Lisa McHugh · Heather A D’Antoine · Mohinder Sarna · Michael J Binks · Hannah C Moore · Ross M Andrews · Gavin F Pereira · Christopher C Blyth · Paul Van Buynder · Karin Lust · Annette K Regan
Inter‐hospital transfer and clinical outcomes for people with COVID‐19 admitted to intensive care units in Australia
Prashant Maan · Anup Bansal · Vineet Nayyar
The Alfred Health post‐COVID‐19 service, Melbourne, 2020–2022: an observational cohort study
Our outpatient triage model can efficiently facilitate care for people with persistent symptoms after COVID-19
Anne E Holland · Daniel Fineberg · Tunya Marceau · Melissa Chong · Jessica Beaman · Lisa Wilson · Jo‐Anne Buchanan · Jacqueline Uren · Simone Dal Corso · Natasha A Lannin · Mariana Hoffman · Christie R Mellerick · Kathya Fernando · Janet Bondarenko
Chronic suppurative lung disease and bronchiectasis in children, adolescents and adults in Australia and New Zealand: TSANZ position statement summary
Despite the growing evidence base for bronchiectasis, large knowledge gaps remain, and no licensed therapies exist
Keith Grimwood · Emma Kennedy · Maree Toombs · Paul J Torzillo · Anne B Chang
Human pulmonary dirofilariasis: an unexpected differential diagnosis for a solitary lung lesion
A 56-year-old woman of European ancestry from a suburban area of Far North Queensland was referred to the local cardiothoracic unit for a right lower lobe lung lesion
Sigrid G Theodore · Hannah J Sawkins · Manish Mathew · Sumit Yadav · Robert Norton
Cough in Children and Adults: Diagnosis, Assessment and Management (CICADA). Summary of an updated position statement on chronic cough in Australia
Updated recommendations from the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and Lung Foundation Australia for managing chronic cough in children and adults
Julie M Marchant · Anne B Chang · Emma Kennedy · David King · Jennifer L Perret · Andre Schultz · Maree R Toombs · Lesley Versteegh · Shyamali C Dharmage · Rebecca Dingle · Naomi Fitzerlakey · Johnson George · Anne Holland · Debbie Rigby · Jennifer Mann · Stuart Mazzone · Mearon O'Brien · Kerry‐Ann O'Grady · Helen L Petsky · Jonathan Pham · Sheree MS Smith · Danielle F Wurzel · Anne E Vertigan · Peter Wark
Haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis secondary to disseminated tuberculosis in a young adult with Crohn's disease
A 25-year-old male patient reported four weeks of chills, night sweats, weight loss and dyspnoea following one week in Bali, Indonesia, seven weeks prior
Rattanak Visal Hean · David A Sheffield · Kirsten Herbert · David Brewster
Lung cancer screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: an opportunity to address health inequities
A commitment to culturally appropriate codesign processes will shape the development of an equitable lung cancer screening pathway
Alison Brown · Gail Garvey · Nicole M Rankin · Claire Nightingale · Lisa J Whop
Non‐invasive ventilation for people with neuromuscular disorders in Australia and New Zealand: a qualitative study of clinician perspectives
Local guidelines, specific funding of respiratory care for people with neuromuscular disorders, and further training for clinicians are needed
Meredith A Perry · Bernadette Jones · Hemakumar Devan · Alister Neill · Amanda Piper · Tristram Ingham
Insomnia and lost productivity among young adults: there is still much work to do
Sleep disorders are often underdiagnosed, undertreated, and have significant health consequences for society
Alan Young · Denise O'Driscoll
Patterns of care for people with small cell lung cancer in Victoria, 2011–19: a retrospective, population‐based registry data study
A national registry of SCLC-specific management and outcomes data could improve the quality and safety of care
Joanna Huang · Wasek Faisal · Margaret Brand · Shantelle Smith · Marliese Alexander · Lisa Briggs · Matthew Conron · Mary Duffy · Thomas John · David Langton · Jacqueline Lesage · Michael MacManus · Paul Mitchell · Inger Olesen · Phillip Parente · Jennifer Philip · Evangeline Samuel · Javier Torres · Craig R Underhill · John R Zalcberg · Susan Harden · Rob Stirling
Sleepwalking towards more harm from asthma
The burden of asthma for patients and doctors can be reduced through simple evidence-based approaches to care and self-management
Christine R Jenkins · Philip G Bardin · John Blakey · Kerry L Hancock · Peter Gibson · Vanessa M McDonald
Insomnia and workplace productivity loss among young working adults: a prospective observational study of clinical sleep disorders in a community cohort
Insomnia is a risk factor for workplace productivity loss in young workers
Amy C Reynolds · Pieter Coenen · Bastien Lechat · Leon Straker · Juliana Zabatiero · Kath J Maddison · Robert J Adams · Peter Eastwood
Locally acquired respiratory diphtheria in Australia
A 32-year-old woman from a remote Indigenous community in Far North Queensland presented to her local health clinic with a one-day history of odynophagia
Simon Smith · James Stewart · Joshua Hanson · Julian Harris · Fred JJ Chuang · Gavin Quail · Bryan Hawarden · Roshni Lad · Shannon McNee · Benjamin McCartney · Tonia Marquardt · Ian Wilson · Catherine Tacon · Bernard CS Whitfield
Mortality among people admitted to Australian intensive care units for reasons other than COVID‐19 during the COVID‐19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study
Increased in-hospital mortality may reflect changes in care across the Australian health system that need to be rectified
Sing Chee Tan · Tess Evans · Matthew L Durie · Paul J Secombe · David Pilcher
