airway

“It is definitely still a severe disease in our youngest kids ... whose airways are small and whose immune systems are less mature,” Singh said.

Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the lungs and airways which can be fatal, particularly for babies.

"Although the Cold War is over between Russia and the US, they're constantly patrolling our airways," Anchorage resident Russell Wilson tells me while fishing.

For example, asthma inhalers activate receptors, which relax the airways to help facilitate breathing.

He added that research shows there are "very real links with vaping to inflammation of your airways which will then exacerbate existing health conditions, whether you have asthma or COPD".