This project is an extension of the Bronchiectasis Intervention Study (BIS).

The project extends the original study by adding microbiota analysis. This is a longitudinal study of microbiota present in the nasopharynx of Indigenous children with bronchiectasis. This study will test specimens from the Australian arm of the Bronchiectasis Intervention Study which found that children receiving azithromycin had significantly lower exacerbation rates than those receiving placebo.

Research objectives:

1) determine whether the nasopharyngeal microbiota is significantly different in children with >3 exacerbations while enrolled in the study compared to those with <2 exacerbations;

2) determine the stability of the nasopharyngeal microbiota in children with bronchiectasis over time in the placebo group compared with those who received long-term treatment with the antibiotic azithromycin; and

3) document changes in the microbiota during antibiotic treatments.

It is hypothesised that nasopharyngeal microbiota stability will be lower in children with frequent exacerbations and that perturbation of the nasopharyngeal microbiota will occur early during antibiotic therapy with stabilisation of the microbiota during prolonged treatment.

The CRE provided project funds will support the microbiological costs of the study, with all specimens being tested at the University of Washington .