The September issue (Vol 10.9) features Pneumonia:

• Ceftazidime-Avibactam Versus Meropenem in Nosocomial Pneumonia, Including Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (REPROVE): A Randomised, Double-Blind, Phase 3 Non-Inferiority Trial
• Global Initiative for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Pneumonia (GLIMP): an International, Observational Cohort Study
• The Clinical Utility of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Nasal Screening to Rule Out MRSA Pneumonia: A Diagnostic Meta-analysis With Antimicrobial Stewardship Implications
• Prognostic and Pathogenic Role of Angiopoietin-1 and -2 in Pneumonia
• Blood Eosinophil Count and Risk of Pneumonia Hospitalisations in Individuals with COPD
• Procalcitonin-Guided Use of Antibiotics for Lower Respiratory Tract Infection
• Procalcitonin as a Marker of Etiology in Adults Hospitalized With Community-Acquired Pneumonia
• Prolonged Versus Short-Term Intravenous Infusion of Antipseudomonal β-lactams for Patients with Sepsis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Trials
• Effect of Oral Prednisolone on Symptom Duration and Severity in Nonasthmatic Adults with Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial
• Initial Inflammatory Profile in Community-Acquired Pneumonia Depends on Time since Onset of Symptoms
• Serotype-Specific Effectiveness of 23-Valent Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine against Pneumococcal Pneumonia in Adults Aged 65 Years or Older: A Multicentre, Prospective, Test-Negative Design Study

In Respirology Vol. 23 Issue 10, the Editors have especially chosen to feature the following two articles:

• Annual Southeast Asia haze increases respiratory admissions: A 2-year large single institution experience
  
  
  Satellite image of the 2015 SE-Asia haze
  10.1111/resp.13325

  Chew R Ming, Andrea Ban Yu-Lin, Mohammad F Abdul Hamid, Mohd T Latiff, Nurashikin Mohammad and Tidi Hassan

• GeneXpert MTB/RIF for rapid diagnosis and rifampin resistance detection of endobronchial tuberculosis
  
  
  The research team from Shenyang, China, with the GeneXpert MTB/RIF system. From left to right: Xiao-han Wang, Chang Liu, Qin Zhang, Bing-qi Sun (front row); Qing Zhang, Gang Hou, An-na Su, Na Liu (Back row)
  10.1111/resp.13316

  Qin Zhang, Qing Zhang, Bing-Qi Sun, Chang Liu, An-Na Su, Xiao-Han Wang, Na Liu, Juan Zhang,3jian Kang and Gang Hou

Most cited

The following articles published in 2017 have been added to the publisher's webpage onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/14401843/homepage/MostCited.html, which lists all most-cited articles since 2012.

• Global strategy for the diagnosis, management and prevention of chronic obstructive lung disease 2017 report
  Vogelmeier C F, Criner G J, Martinez F J, Anzueto A, Barnes P J, Bourbeau J, Celli B R, Chen R, Decramer M, Fabbri L M, Frith P, Halpin D M G, López Varela M V, Nishimura M, Roche N, Rodriguez-Roisin R, Sin D D, Singh D, Stockley R, Vestbo J, Wedzicha J A and Agusti A
  DOI: 10.1002/rcr2.346
• Animal models of COPD: What do they tell us?
  Jones B, Donovan C, Liu G, Gomez H M, Chimankar V, Harrison C L, Wiegman C H, Adcock I M, Knight D A, Hirota J A and Hansbro P M
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12908
• Australian and New Zealand Pulmonary Rehabilitation Guidelines
  Alison J A, McKeough Z J, Johnston K, McNamara R J, Spencer L M, Jenkins S C, Hill C J, McDonald V M, Frith P, Cafarella P, Brooke M, Cameron-Tucker H L, Candy S, Cecins N, Chan A S L, Dale M, Dowman L M, Granger C, Halloran S, Jung P, Lee A, Leung R, Matulick T, Osadnik C, Roberts M, Walsh J, Wootton S, Holland A E on behalf of the Lung Foundation Australia and the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.13025
• Co-morbidities in severe asthma: Clinical impact and management
  Porsbjerg C and Menzies-Gow A
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.13026
• Severe asthma: Current management, targeted therapies and future directions - A roundtable report
  McDonald V M, Maltby S, Reddel H K, King G G, Wark P A B, Smith L, Upham J W, James A L, Marks G B and Gibson P G
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12957
• Pathogenesis of central and complex sleep apnoea
  Orr J E, Malhotra A and Sands S A
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12927
• Home-based telerehabilitation via real-time videoconferencing improves endurance exercise capacity in patients with COPD: The randomized controlled TeleR Study
  Tsai L L Y, McNamara R J, Moddel C, Alison J A, McKenzie D K and McKeough Z J
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12966
• Validation of the prognostic value of MMP-7 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
  Tzouvelekis A, Herazo-Maya J D, Slade M, Chu J-h, Deiuliis G, Ryu C, Li Q, Sakamoto K, Ibarra G, Pan H, Gulati M, Ozterkis D O, Herzog E L and Kaminski N
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12920
• Severe asthma in children
  Bush A, Fleming L and Saglani S
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.13085
• Microbiomes in respiratory health and disease: An Asia-Pacific perspective
  Chotirmall S H, Gellatly S L, Budden K F, Mac Aogain M, Shukla S D, Wood D L A, Hugenholtz P, Pethe K and Hansbro P M
  DOI: 10.1111/resp.12971

The following cases have been selected for inclusion in the October Respirology Case Reports. Here also is a sneak preview of cases selected for the November issue.

Volume 06 Issue 7
October 2018

Volume 06 Issue 8
November 2018

Dr Vu Van Giap (Viet Nam Respiratory Society) "For a clean air world – activities in Viet Nam"

Dr Arifin Nawas (Indonesian Society of Respirology) "For a clean air world – activities in Indonesia"

Dr Bodhika Samarasekera (Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists) "For a clean air world – activities in Sri Lanka"

Dr Wilson Yee Kwok Sang (Hong Kong Thoracic Society) "Air pollution's impact on Hong Kong and steps taken by HKTS to help"

Dr Puah Ser Hon (Singapore Thoracic Society) "Air pollution's impact on Singapore and steps taken by STS to help"

Click any image to enlarge.

More photos taken at APSR events can be seen at the APSR's Twitter account @APSRapsr.

We were very fortunate to have the help of Dr John Ray T Galamay from Philippines, who kindly uploaded Tweets throughout the ERS Congress. Here is his report:

The Philippines' National August Lung Month Celebration

August has always been celebrated as National Lung Month in the Philippines based on the Presidential Proclamation No. 176 since 1973. For the past couple of years, the Philippine College of Chest Physicians (PCCP), the acknowledged professional society of respiratory specialists in the country, has been spearheading this month-long celebration to heighten the awareness of the public about lung diseases.

The theme for this year's National Lung Month was "Healthy Lungs, Happy Life". The PCCP jumpstarted the campaign on August 1 with a multi-organization collaboration summit entitled "Multisectoral Consensus on Asthma, COPD & Smoking Cessation Clinical Pathway Formulation". During this forum, key medical societies brainstormed on the general plan of action to combat these non-communicable diseases and on how to proceed with the creation of simple clinical pathways for these illnesses. This was followed by different activities of the 9 chapters of our College in the different parts of the country from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao throughout the whole month. The activities organized by the different chapters highlighted the common lung diseases and diagnostic tests such as COPD, Lung Cancer, Asthma, Smoking Cessation or Spirometry. The formats used in these activities ranged from lay fora, screening, video presentation, media interviews to simple educational posters.

A tree-planting activity was also held at a water reservoir area within the densely populated Metro Manila area. A second summit was conducted at the end of the month that focused this time on the National Research Agenda on Lung Health.

The involvement of the social media through the Council on Health Informatics and Social Media by Facebook, YouTube and Twitter has given this particular event a special flavor. The different chapters, training institutions and even celebrities were also made to present cough etiquette videos and infographics. A tweetchat with a hashtag #Philpulmo garnered a staggering 500,000 likes and shares.

The culminating event was a mini health fair with a Zumba exercise activity in the early morning of 26 August 2018 at a popular park area in Metro Manila. All the pulmonary fellowship training institutions set up educational booths focused on screening and prevention of common pulmonary diseases. There were several fun activities and prizes at all the booths. A total of 900 participants joined the affair.

The Filipinos are known for their cheerfulness and hospitality and this year's August Lung Month Celebration epitomized these national traits. The Philippine College of Chest Physicians will continue to spearhead the effort of lessening the burden of lung diseases in the country and will not pause even to catch its breath.

Written by Janeth Samson MD., FPCCP

The Asian Pacific Congress on Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (APCB 2019) will take place at the Gold Coast Exhibition and Convention Centre, Australia, 28–30 March 2019, preceding the TSANZSRS Annual Scientific Meeting (30 March – 2 April).

It will attract a distinguished audience comprised of researchers and clinicians in the field of bronchology and interventional pulmonology. The theme is "Case Based Training – Practice and Theory" and it will have a novel design with a hands-on focus; workshops will provide the core part of the Congress.

APCB 2019 promises to offer an exceptional learning opportunity. Case-based learning will take centre stage and local and international faculty have developed a range of interesting and informative cases across 9 key topics. As part of your registration package you will get to choose 4 half-day courses, which will include theory as well as plenty of time to gain hands-on practice in key procedural points relevant to the particular topic.

REGISTER NOW

For more information, or to sign up to receive updates, please go to www.apcb2019.com

World Lung Day 2018 was observed by the Bangladesh Lung Foundation (BLF) on 25 September 2018 (Tuesday), at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in Dhaka.

The event was chaired by Prof. Md. Rashidul Hassan; President of the BLF. It was participated by a large number of pulmonologists and specialists from different disciplines. The welcome speech was delivered by Dr Asif Mujtaba Mahmud, Treasurer of the BLF. He mentioned the significance of observing World Lung Day by the BLF since its induction as an en bloc society of the APSR. Prof. Shakil Ahmed, General Secretary, Bangladesh Pediatric Pulmonology Forum (BPPF) gave a goodwill speech. He congratulated the BLF for organizing the programme and expressed solidarity of the BPPF with the BLF. He stated that pneumonia still remained a major killer diseases for children.

A video on "Challenges of air pollution" was presented. An interactive session was held with "Airway friends" participated by role models, celebrities, patients and care-givers. This session was conducted by Dr Mohammad Abdus Shakur Khan, Joint Secretary of the BLF. The well-known celebrities expressed their commitment to raising awareness among the public about the importance of lung diseases and increasing access of patients for quality-based lung health. They also expressed their concern about the prevailing situation of air pollution and called for urgent measures to control this grave threat to lung health. The day was marked by festivities including hoisting special festoons and releasing balloons by the participants.

Mr Yasutomi Yamanaka, Executive Manager of the APSR headquarters gave an elaborate presentation on various opportunities for BLF members as en bloc society members. He expressed his belief that the BLF members would utilize these opportunities and build stronger relationship with other societies under the APSR umbrella.

A scientific presentation on the lung health situation in Bangladesh was delivered by Prof. Dr Md. Ali Hossain; Secretary General, BLF. He provided an overview of the various challenges to lung health prevailing in the country. He emphasized the importance of optimum management of the major killer disease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

The programme was marked by the formal launching of Onriva plus, a dual bronchodilator which would be available to patients at a reasonable price. In a vote of thanks, Dr Kazi Saifuddin Bennoor, International Affairs Secretary of the BLF expressed his gratitude to all the participants. He also profusely thanked the APSR leadership for sending Mr Yamanaka to join the celebration as the APSR representative. The whole seminar and event were telecast live to audiences in Chittagong and Sylhet in Bangladesh.

(Click image to enlarge)

A very fruitful leadership meeting between Mr Yamanaka and the BLF leadership followed right after the event. It was attended by the members of extended executive committee of the BLF. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Rashidul Hassan and moderated by Dr Asif Mujtaba Mahmud. The members and Mr Yamanaka exchanged our future collaboration productively.

Dr Asif Mujtaba Mahmud, MBBS, DTCD, Ph.D
Consultant, Respiratory Medicine,
Asgar Ali Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh Treasurer, Bangladesh Lung Foundation

This APSR-endorsed Educational Event (APSREE) will be held on Friday 16 November 2018 at Hilton, Xiamen, China

An intensive, full-day programme, packed with the following sessions:

Further details will appear at apsresp.org/education/esap/esap-201811-china.html when available.

There will be a special scientific meeting of the Indonesian Society of Respirology (ISR) (Pertemuan Ilmiah Khusus PDPI 2018) with the theme Current approach in respiratory medicine – Special issues in interventional pulmonology and thoracic oncology

The 59th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Respiratory Society will be held on 12-14 April 2019 at the Tokyo International Forum.

The Meeting's president will be Prof. Koichiro Tatsumi (Department of Respirology, Chiba University)

Details: www.jrs.or.jp/english/?content_id=27

Please see the Spotlight report above

If you are attending the International Asthma, Allergy and COPD Forum in Dubai on 5–6 October 2018, use code ACOPD18APSR when you register to get your 25% discount for being an APSR member.

Further details at www.cvent.com/Events/Info/EmailToPlanner.aspx?e=eee8c7ce-1334-4756-9549-8919fd27cf7f

China is re-assigning 60,000 troops – to plant trees

As the People's Liberation Army looks to downsize, significant numbers of soldiers are being tasked with non-military missions.

China will plant new forests covering an area of 84,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of Ireland, in 2018, as it aims to increase forest coverage to 23% of total landmass by the end of the decade, China Daily reported last week. The current forested area stands at 21%.

Meanwhile, a separate source in the Central Military Commission said a large regiment of the People's Liberation Army – in addition to the nation's armed police force, which has just been absorbed into the commission – have been withdrawn from northern border areas and tasked with a new mission: planting trees.

The actual number of soldiers mobilized is said to be over 60,000.

The armed police force has a specially designated forestry branch to patrol and exercise jurisdiction in forested areas such as the northeastern Greater Khingan mountain range – dubbed 'China's green lungs' – in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia provinces.

Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration, said at a meeting last week that China would aim to grow at least 6.66 million hectares of new forest this year.

China's total forested area is now around 208 million hectares, with 33.8 million hectares having been added in the past five years.

Heavily polluted Hebei province, which encircles Beijing, has pledged to raise its total forest coverage to 35% by the end of 2020, and the bulk of the troops pulled back from the frontlines will be dispatched there for afforestation in a province that is seen as the major culprit in producing the fumes and smog that blanket not only Beijing but also large parts of northern China in cold seasons.

In 2015, Beijing announced a plan to lay off 300,000 soldiers and many PLA personnel have been re-assigned to non-military missions such as planting trees and revving up key state-level infrastructure projects.

Posts on online forums popular among veterans and military aficionados reveal that soldiers covet being re-stationed inland, away from the frigid northern border areas, in order to plant trees, so long as their ranks and entitlements remain unchanged.

(Extracted from Asia Times, 7 February 2018)

The country is witnessing significant political changes following the recent transfer of power. And as with all such popular changes, there is hope this will benefit the lives of the population.

Respiratory healthcare workers are hopeful there will be a similarly significant change in air quality for the benefit of its population.

Read Dr Li-Cher Loh's Letter from Malaysia doi.org/10.1111/resp.13382 and the bright future he envisions.

According to the Global Adults Tobacco Survey (GATS) in 2015, tobacco was used in Vietnam by 45.3% of men and 1.1% of women, and 22.5% overall (15.6 million adults) currently smoked tobacco.

Ageing of the population, urbanization, industrialization and environmental pollution are also responsible for the high burden of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Vietnam.

The slogan of the Vietnam Respiratory Society in 2018 is 'Co-operation for Healthy Lungs'. These are not just words; the VNRS have been, and are, very active in promoting healthy lugs in the country.

Read Dr Giap Van Vu's Letter from Vietnam doi.org/10.1111/resp.13403 on the success of education delivered to date and the challenges ahead.

Vietnam is hosting the APSR Congress in 2019, in the capital city of Hanoi.

Comment by Dr Mark Lavercombe:
The authors review two years of data from their Malaysian hospital for correlation between respiratory admissions and local haze conditions. The findings demonstrate significantly increased rates of admission with respiratory symptoms during a haze, particularly in those with chronic lung or cardiac disease, and those with obesity. Length of stay and requirement for intensive care also increased in the haze periods.

• Dr Yoichi Nakanishi (Japan)
• Dr Anand Singh (India)

The APSR is profoundly grateful for their generosity.

Congratulations to the following members who have recently become APSR Fellows.

• Dr Sudhir Gopinathan Nair FAPSR (India)
• Dr Brijesh Prajapat FAPSR (India)
• Dr Anand Singh FAPSR (India)

A warm welcome to the following members who have recently joined APSR assemblies. They will undoubtedly enjoy working with and networking with their assembly colleagues.

If you have any news or announcement that could be of interest to other APSR members, please submit details to the APSR Bulletin coordinators: Dr Arata Azuma (a-azuma@nms.ac.jp), Dr David C L Lam (dcllam@hku.hk), Dr Shu Hashimoto (hashimoto.shu@nihon-u.ac.jp), or APSR Bulletin (bulletin@apsresp.org).