title: Respiratory repercussions in adults with a history of infantile bronchiolitis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Servicios de Neumología y Alergia, Hospital Clinico de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. algc-colas@hcu-lblesa.es
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colás
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sebastián
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arribas
mesh_terms: 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