A local cohort at St. Olavs University Hospital including several thousand children admitted with respiratory tract infections and several hundred controls included from 2006 – 2017. This cohort is the basis for single virus studies e.g. studies on human metapneumovirus, RSV, human bocavirus, coronaviruses and parechoviruses, yielding population based incidence data, rates of viral co-detections and other virological and clinical data, in children with pneumonia, bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract infections.  We also study virus-host interactions to detect cellular components and pathways involved in viral infections.

From 2022 we have initiated a new Airway Project 2 at Ålesund sjukehus and St. Olavs Hospital. Admitted children with signs of respiratory tract infections are included to examine the association between virus and lower respiratory tract infection, and the association between viruses such as rhinovirus, coronavirus, metapneumovirus and RSV, and the risk of developing asthma. We also plan to describe the occurrence over time of respiratory viruses and bacteria, and how long respiratory viruses are excreted during an infection.

Follow-up for asthma of children admitted with respiratory tract infections and particular viruses (e.g. rhinovirus, RSV, metapneumovirus) as infants. Include clinical, pulmonary, immunological and genetic studies of the relation between early life lower respiratory tract infections and asthma in childhood.  

In the West nearly all children are vaccinated against pneumococci, previously the most common bacterial etiology of childrens lower respiratory tract infections. We participate in a Norwegian multicenter placebo-controlled study lead by Oslo University Hospital-Ullevål, to look on the effect of amoxicillin treatment in children with lower respiratory tract infections. We also look on biomarkers and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of pathogenic bacteria. The aim is to diminish antibiotic use and bacterial resistance.

The CAIR-group heads a Nordic multicenter randomized clinical trial to see if asthma may be prevented in first-time bronchopulmonary obstructive children infected by rhinovirus. Children are randomized to a short course of dexametason vs placebo and are followed at several visits during the first two years of life and after 6 and 14 years. The study has recruited 80 participants as of January 2023.