BEENO
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Utility of point-of-care Blood Eosinophils and Exhaled Nitric Oxide as biomarkers in predicting childhood asthma attacks: a pragmatic real-world observational study (BEENO)
IRAS ID
346810
Contact name
Claire L Edmondson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Asthma is a common, long-term lung disease affecting about 10% of children in the UK. Asthma attacks occur following triggers like a cold, or exercise because of a large increase in inflammation (swelling) in the lungs making children wheeze, cough and have difficulty in breathing. Attacks are the commonest cause of hospital admissions in children with asthma, leading to time off school and work. Currently there is no way of predicting which child is at risk of having an attack.
One test routinely done in children attending specialist asthma clinics helps measure inflammation. This is called FeNO and is a breath test. In children, FeNO alone doesn’t predict attacks. However, adult studies show that FeNO combined with a blood test which measures eosinophils (cells that cause inflammation), may predict attacks. Traditionally, blood tests use samples from veins which can be difficult in children and get sent to the laboratory meaning results can take time. We have used a finger prick blood sample, taking a few drops of blood, to measure eosinophils with a bedside test. The results are immediate and very similar to the laboratory results. 85% of children found the test easy.
We will include 200 children aged 6-17 years with severe asthma who attend one of five specialist centres in London. We will see if it is possible to measure blood eosinophils using this bedside test, together with FeNO, at every clinic review over a year. We want to know if both tests together can predict which child is at risk of an asthma attack, and whether repeated testing is acceptable to families. If the combined FeNO and blood test do predict attacks, our next steps will be to trial both tests at other hospital asthma clinics across the country as part of routine monitoring for children with asthma.REC name
East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/EE/0207
Date of REC Opinion
2 Oct 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion