Prevalence and clinical characteristics of wheezing in children in the first year of life, living in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil* *Study conducted at Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

AbstractObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence and the clinical characteristics of wheezing in infants aged 12 to 15 months in the city of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso State, Midwest Brazil.MethodsParents and/or guardians of infants were interviewed and completed a written standardized questionnaire of the Estudio Internacional de Sibilancia en Lactantes (EISL) – phase 3 at primary healthcare clinics at the same day of children vaccination or at home, from August of 2009 to November of 2010.Results1,060 parents and/or guardians completed the questionnaire, and 514 (48.5%) infants were male. Among the studied infants, 294 (27.7%) had at least one episode of wheezing during the first year of life, beggining at 5.8±3.0 months of age, with a predominance of male patients. The prevalence of occasional wheezing (