Respiratory repercussions in adults with a history of infantile bronchiolitis.
BACKGROUND
Viral bronchiolitis in infancy has been identified in previous studies as a potential precursor to the development of lower respiratory tract illness in later childhood and beyond.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the long-term respiratory repercussions of acute infantile viral bronchiolitis.


METHODS
We studied 71 individuals aged 19 to 24 years with a history of a viral bronchiolitis in infancy and 32 controls. All participants underwent the following evaluation: medical history, forced spirometry, methacholine challenge, and skin prick testing.


RESULTS
The bronchiolitis group had a higher prevalence of respiratory symptoms (P = .03) and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (P = .003) than controls. The bronchiolitis group also had a lower peak expiratory flow rate (P = .02). Skin prick test responses were similar in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings from this study support and extend those from previous studies by suggesting that viral bronchiolitis may be a predisposing factor for lower respiratorytract problems in young adulthood.
Gómez
Roberto
R
Servicios de Neumología y Alergia, Hospital Clinico de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. algc-colas@hcu-lblesa.es
Colás
Carlos
C
Sebastián
Antonio
A
Arribas
Jesús
J
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016535:Bronchial Hyperreactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D001990:Bronchiolitis, Viral / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008450:Maximal Midexpiratory Flow Rate; D015995:Prevalence; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications; D012882:Skin Tests