Bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis [letter].

The otherwise excellent article on bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis by Dr Margaret 
Hodson is seriously marred by the failure to emphasise that the 
advice on management and drug dosage is directed throughout to the 
adult and adolescent, and not to the child. Firstly, tetracycline should 
not be prescribed for young children for obvious reasons; secondly, the 
dosage of all antibiotics recommended is high for infants and small 
children. The final paragraph gives a pessimistic impression of an undoubtedly 
distressing condition by stressing the early mortality of the past and 
of many of the older patients of today, without noting the 
effect that early diagnosis - perhaps as a result of neonatal 
screening - together with more effective treatment may have in the 
future on the quality of life and length of life. 