BACKGROUND Anti-viral treatment has been used to treat severe or progressive illness due to pandemic H1N1 2009. A main cause of severe illness in pandemic H1N1 2009 is viral pneumonia; however, it is unclear how effective antiviral treatment is against pneumonia when administered >48 hours after symptom onset. Therefore, we aimed to determine how time from symptom onset to antiviral administrat...

BACKGROUND A birth cohort dedicated to studying infections in early childhood may be assisted by parental recording of symptoms on a daily basis and a collection of biomaterials. We aimed at testing the feasibility of this approach for use in a long-term study focusing on infections in children in Germany. METHODS Parents of 1- to 3-year-old children (n = 75) were recruited in nursery schools...

Supportive and palliative care is an interdisciplinary challenge with the aims of symptom relief and improvement of quality of life in end-stage patients. Main complaints of patients with advanced nonmalignant lung disease are depression and anxiety, dyspnea, pain, and coughing. The discomfort of many physicians, caregivers, and family members with discussions about end-of-life care is one obst...

This case study reports on two infants, 5 and 6 months of age, respectively, with chronic interstitial lung disease who presented with failure to thrive, tachypnoea, rales and mild hypoxaemia. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was detected by in situ hybridization in lung biopsy specimens and by EBV-deoxyribonucleic acid-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in one patien...

Hyperventilation has been linked to emotional distress in adults. This study investigates end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2 ), respiratory rate (RR), and heart rate variability (HRV) in adolescent girls with emotional disorders and healthy controls. ETCO2 , RR, HRV, and ratings of emotional symptom severity were collected in adolescent female psychiatric patients with emotional disorders (n = 63)...

Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS) cases linked to SOD1 mutations may sometimes present with unusual clinical features such as pure lower motor neuron involvement or sensory signs. The authors describe a FALS pedigree with the L144F SOD1 mutation in which all cases had respiratory involvement as a first symptom. Although atypical clinical features are not rare in ALS families, this i...

Patients with symptoms of opiate withdrawal, after the administration of opiate antagonist by paramedics, are a common presentation in the emergency department of hospitals. Though most of opiate withdrawal symptoms are benign, rarely they can become life threatening. This case highlights how a benign opiate withdrawal symptom of hyperventilation led to severe respiratory alkalosis that degener...

Activity-related dyspnoea is the most common symptom of patients with chronic lung diseases and underpins perceived poor health status. Our understanding of the nature and source of dyspnoea continues to grow but successful amelioration of this distressing symptom can remain elusive, especially in those with advanced lung diseases. According to Norman Jones, the great Canadian physiologist, “br...

background: petrochemical industry emits air pollutants in abundance, which may harm human health, especially the population living near the industry. children are reported to be the population group of main concern since this susceptible population spends the majority of their time outdoors and their active lifestyle can increase their breathing rate, which then leads to a greater inhalation d...