Childhood respiratory diseases

Childhood respiratory diseases (CRD), ranging from acute viral and bacterial infections to chronic non-communicable diseases, are among the leading causes of child mortality, morbidity, and disability across the world. Pneumonia, despite being preventable and treatable, continues to be the leading cause of child mortality, with over 1 million deaths globally each year. One in five tuberculosis cases affects those under 5 years old. Asthma is the most common chronic condition in children, with increasing prevalence year on year. Environmental factors including indoor air pollution, second-hand tobacco smoke, living in crowded homes and inadequate nutrition are all known to increase the risk of CRD.

There is a need to improve surveillance strategies and our understanding of the barriers that prevent effective immunization, transmission, and treatment of CRD, to reduce inequality globally. There is also a clinical need to develop simple point-of-care diagnostic tests, identify novel biomarkers, and develop strategies to prevent and manage these diseases. Novel insights from microbiome research may also be useful, as will an understanding of how CRD influences health later in life.  

This cross-journal Collection involving Communications Medicine, Nature Communications and Scientific Reports invites primary research submissions dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, management, and surveillance of CRD, including studies on biomarkers, vaccines, pathology, therapies, microbiome, epidemiology and public health. Authors should refer to the aims and scope of each participating journal to determine the most appropriate journal for their manuscript. Submissions are welcome on a rolling basis.

This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 3.