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1: Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 Oct 1;178(7):667-72. Epub 2008 Jun 19.
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Wheezing rhinovirus illnesses in early life predict asthma development in high-risk children.

Jackson DJ, Gangnon RE, Evans MD, Roberg KA, Anderson EL, Pappas TE, Printz MC, Lee WM, Shult PA, Reisdorf E, Carlson-Dakes KT, Salazar LP, DaSilva DF, Tisler CJ, Gern JE, Lemanske RF Jr.

Department of Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA. djj@medicine.wisc.edu

RATIONALE: Virus-induced wheezing episodes in infancy often precede the development of asthma. Whether infections with specific viral pathogens confer differential future asthma risk is incompletely understood. OBJECTIVES: To define the relationship between specific viral illnesses and early childhood asthma development. METHODS: A total of 259 children were followed prospectively from birth to 6 years of age. The etiology and timing of specific viral wheezing respiratory illnesses during early childhood were assessed using nasal lavage, culture, and multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The relationships of these virus-specific wheezing illnesses and other risk factors to the development of asthma were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Viral etiologies were identified in 90% of wheezing illnesses. From birth to age 3 years, wheezing with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (odds ratio [OR], 2.6), rhinovirus (RV) (OR, 9.8), or both RV and RSV (OR , 10) was associated with increased asthma risk at age 6 years. In Year 1, both RV wheezing (OR, 2.8) and aeroallergen sensitization (OR, 3.6) independently increased asthma risk at age 6 years. By age 3 years, wheezing with RV (OR, 25.6) was more strongly associated with asthma at age 6 years than aeroallergen sensitization (OR, 3.4). Nearly 90% (26 of 30) of children who wheezed with RV in Year 3 had asthma at 6 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: Among outpatient viral wheezing illnesses in infancy and early childhood, those caused by RV infections are the most significant predictors of the subsequent development of asthma at age 6 years in a high-risk birth cohort.

Publication Types:
PMID: 18565953 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC2556448 [Available on 10/01/09]