Fig. 1

Sampling timeline and composition. (a) Timeline from Oct 2011 to May 2014, COPD patients were enrolled and sampled during scheduled wellness visits (blue arrows), and any unscheduled visits (red and purple arrows) within 3 days of an acute exacerbation or exacerbation follow-up visit. Samples were considered stable if collected 31 days post-hospitalization or ARI. Dotted arrows correspond to samples collected at scheduled wellness visits that incidentally corresponded to acute exacerbation events (1.2%) and exacerbation follow-up visits (65%). Piecharts represent the proportion of patients from Europe and USA (b), the proportion of samples collected at each disease state (c) and the proportion of samples associated with antibiotics (Abx) and inhaled corticosteroids (CS) taken in the past 7 days (d)