Preschool asthma after bronchiolitis in infancy

ABSTRACT: Asthma risk is lower after wheezing associated with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) than with non-RSV infection in infancy. RSV is the main wheezing-associated virus in infants aged,6 months. We evaluated the outcome of children hospitalised for bronchiolitis at,6 months of age, with special focus on viral aetiology and early risk factors. Out of 205 infants hospitalised for bronchiolitis at,6 months of age, 127 (62%) attended a control visit at a mean age of 6.5 yrs and the parents of an additional 39 children were interviewed by telephone. Thus, follow-up data collected by identical structured questionnaires were available from 166 (81%) children. Viral aetiology of bronchiolitis, studied on admission by antigen detection or PCR, was demonstrable in 97 % of cases. Current asthma was present in 21 (12.7%) children: 8.2 % in the 110 former RSV patients versus 24 % in non-RSV patients (p50.01). 45 (27%) children had ever had asthma. In adjusted analyses, atopic dermatitis, non-RSV bronchiolitis and maternal asthma were independently significant early-life risk factors for asthma. The risk of asthma was lower after RSV bronchiolitis than after bronchiolitis caused by other viruses in children hospitalised at,6 months of age