PedResp Group at the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases meeting in Bucharest

In May 2025, several members of the PedResp group attended the 43^rd annual meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases in Bucharest! Geert van Weelden presented the latest results on our collaborative project with our partners at Stellenbosch University, the COVID-Kids study.

By measuring SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and inflammatory markers in saliva, we were able to show that saliva is a suitable sample for pathogen surveillance. Additionally, salivary markers could help us identify patients at risk for severe disease. Our talk sparked an interesting discussion, which provided some valuable insights for us. To monitor these host-mucosal immune dynamics in more detail, we are currently recruiting patients for the follow-up study, the Muco-Kids study. In the meantime, we are busy publishing these results, so stay tuned for more information!

In addition to Geert, postdoc Josephine van der Maat presented 2 posters and student Danique Huijbens also presented a poster. Both Josephine and Danique are collaborating with our Caribbean partners within the RISE study. The results they presented shed light on the role of Saharan dust in respiratory complaints and the diagnostic pathway of respiratory infections in the Caribbean setting.