The role of pulmonary infection in pediatric asthma.
Recently, several authors have documented that respiratory infections may cause wheezing and acute exacerbation of asthma in children. Respiratory syncytial virus infections have been recognized to produce the first episode of wheezing in children who go on to develop chronic asthma. Furthermore, repeated infections caused by other common childhood viral pathogens have been proposed to affect responses of the immune system in such a way as to prevent the onset of allergic diseases and possibly asthma. Recently, it became clear that also infections by intracellular pathogens, such as Chlamydia and Mycoplasma, may cause acute and chronic wheezing in some individuals. In this review we describe the immunologic and clinical implications of the association between respiratory infections and asthma.
Brunetti
Luigia
L
Biomedicina dell'Età Evolutiva, Pediatria S. Maggiore, University of Bari, Bari, Italy. l.brunetti@pediatria3.uniba.it
Colazzo
Damiano
D
Francavilla
Ruggiero
R
Tesse
Riccardina
R
De Sario
Valeria
V
Lorè
Maria
M
Armenio
Lucio
L
D000208:Acute Disease; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology; D002648:Child; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D012136:Respiratory Syncytial Viruses; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000821:virology
D016207:Cytokines