[Asthma in infants and young children: definitions and epidemiology].
Asthma of infants and young children (under school age) is a syndrome and not a disease. While the definitions given in 1981 by Tabachnik an Levision and by Geubelle still hold good, recent epidemiological findings show that several situations exist. Less than 20% of asthmatic infants in fact have allergic asthma that will persist after the age of 10. Bronchiolitis due to respiratory syncytial virus leads to a common variety of asthma. But pre-existing abnormalities of the small airways which create favorable conditions for bronchiolitis may also lead us to overestimate the sequelae. Prospective follow-up of cohorts of newborns is thus very important, and all wheezy children should undergo careful examination to exclude "false asthma" and identify "true asthma".
Service d'allergologie et de pneumologie, hôpital des Enfants, 330, avenue de Grande-Bretagne, BP 3119, 31026 Toulouse, France. guy.dutau@wanadoo.fr
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D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000150:complications; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013577:Syndrome; D009626:Terminology as Topic