Hospital teams research treatment for common childhood chest infection

Staff at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford are helping to find the most effective treatment for children with a common chest infection.

Clinicians working on Padua ward are one of 32 teams nationwide currently involved in the BachB study, a clinical trial comparing different types of oxygen support for babies less than 12 months old with bronchiolitis. More than 30,000 babies are admitted to hospital each year because of the viral infection, which causes breathing difficulties.

The research involves testing whether high flow oxygen through a tube in the nose is more effective than humidified oxygen through a mask for babies with moderate bronchiolitis. It also compares high flow oxygen through a tube with pressurised oxygen through a mask, known as CPAP, for babies with severe bronchiolitis.

Consultant paediatrician Diana Iskander is principal investigator for the study locally, and worked with the team from Imperial College London, who are leading the trial, to train colleagues and establish the trial locally.

She said: “This trial is a fantastic opportunity for people to be involved in research and play a part in improving patient care and experience.

“Research involving children is an area that faces difficulties for several reasons, including ethics and regulations such as the complexities of consent, parental involvement and funding, which can mean that historically when we are treating children and babies we were relying on evidence from adult trials.

“This trial compares treatments that would be given anyway, and will be measuring outcomes by recording the time patients spend on the ward after they start treatment.

“It means we will be able to say for sure which oxygen modality is better for babies with moderate or severe bronchiolitis, so we can help them recover and go home as soon as possible.”

The study aims to compare the different treatments on more than 1,500 babies nationally, and the team at the William Harvey Hospital hope to recruit 20 babies to the study. The trial opened on Padua ward in March, and will continue until May 2026.

Diana and the team were recognised for their work at the EKHUFT Celebration Awards, where they won the Excellence in Research and Innovation category.

She said: “It was an honour winning this award and to be recognised. I’m in awe of all my colleagues in paediatrics, in general, of all their hard work that goes unrecognised. It is a fantastic team, and I am very pleased that my colleagues have embraced this.

“For some it has been their first experience of research, and now they are keen to be involved and are so excited to learn new skills as part of this.

“It is a great thing to have on your CV, and it is fantastic to play a part in helping to improve care.”

The clinical teams are supported by the hospital’s research staff, who help with data collection and upload the results to a central database for the lead researchers to evaluate.

Diana said: “The William Harvey research team are so brilliant, and we couldn’t do it without their support.

“This experience has really got the team thinking about and talking about research and I hope we can be involved in more trials in the future that will lead to benefits for our patients.”