Skip to main content
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1986 Nov 15;293(6557):1271–1275. doi: 10.1136/bmj.293.6557.1271

Childhood respiratory infection and adult chronic bronchitis in England and Wales.

D J Barker, C Osmond
PMCID: PMC1342108  PMID: 3096461

Abstract

The high mortality from chronic bronchitis in England and Wales and the excess of urban over rural mortality are unexplained. On dividing England and Wales into 212 local authority areas a strong geographical relation was found between death rates from chronic bronchitis and emphysema in 1959-78 and infant mortality from bronchitis and pneumonia during 1921-5. It was concluded that this relation provided strong evidence of a direct casual link between acute lower respiratory infection in early childhood and chronic bronchitis in adult life. Regression analysis suggested that infection in early childhood had a greater influence than cigarette smoking in determining the geographical distribution of chronic bronchitis. National time trends reflected the influence of both factors. Chronic air pollution in adult life may be less important a cause of chronic bronchitis than previously supposed.

Full text

PDF
1271

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BOYD J. T. Climate, air pollution, and mortality. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1960 Jul;14:123–135. doi: 10.1136/jech.14.3.123. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barker D. J., Osmond C. Infant mortality, childhood nutrition, and ischaemic heart disease in England and Wales. Lancet. 1986 May 10;1(8489):1077–1081. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)91340-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Colley J. R., Douglas J. W., Reid D. D. Respiratory disease in young adults: influence of early childhood lower respiratory tract illness, social class, air pollution, and smoking. Br Med J. 1973 Jul 28;3(5873):195–198. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5873.195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Colley J. R. Respiratory dieease in childhood. Br Med Bull. 1971 Jan;27(1):9–14. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070822. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Downham M. A., Scott R., Sims D. G., Webb J. K., Gardner P. S. Breast-feeding protects against respiratory syncytial virus infections. Br Med J. 1976 Jul 31;2(6030):274–276. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6030.274. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gurwitz D., Mindorff C., Levison H. Increased incidence of bronchial reactivity in children with a history of bronchiolitis. J Pediatr. 1981 Apr;98(4):551–555. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(81)80758-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Holland W. W., Halil T., Bennett A. E., Elliott A. Factors influencing the onset of chronic respiratory disease. Br Med J. 1969 Apr 26;2(5651):205–208. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5651.205. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kattan M., Keens T. G., Lapierre J. G., Levison H., Bryan A. C., Reilly B. J. Pulmonary function abnormalities in symptom-free children after bronchiolitis. Pediatrics. 1977 May;59(5):683–688. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kiernan K. E., Colley J. R., Douglas J. W., Reid D. D. Chronic cough in young adults in relation to smoking habits, childhood environment and chest illness. Respiration. 1976;33(3):236–244. doi: 10.1159/000193738. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lambert P. M., Reid D. D. Smoking, air pollution, and bronchitis in Britain. Lancet. 1970 Apr 25;1(7652):853–857. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(70)91687-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Leeder S. R., Corkhill R., Irwig L. M., Holland W. W., Colley J. R. Influence of family factors on the incidence of lower respiratory illness during the first year of life. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1976 Dec;30(4):203–212. doi: 10.1136/jech.30.4.203. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mok J. Y., Simpson H. Outcome for acute bronchitis, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia in infancy. Arch Dis Child. 1984 Apr;59(4):306–309. doi: 10.1136/adc.59.4.306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mok J. Y., Simpson H. Symptoms, atopy, and bronchial reactivity after lower respiratory infection in infancy. Arch Dis Child. 1984 Apr;59(4):299–305. doi: 10.1136/adc.59.4.299. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Osmond C., Gardner M. J. Age, period and cohort models applied to cancer mortality rates. Stat Med. 1982 Jul-Sep;1(3):245–259. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780010306. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pullan C. R., Hey E. N. Wheezing, asthma, and pulmonary dysfunction 10 years after infection with respiratory syncytial virus in infancy. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1982 Jun 5;284(6330):1665–1669. doi: 10.1136/bmj.284.6330.1665. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pullan C. R., Toms G. L., Martin A. J., Gardner P. S., Webb J. K., Appleton D. R. Breast-feeding and respiratory syncytial virus infection. Br Med J. 1980 Oct 18;281(6247):1034–1036. doi: 10.1136/bmj.281.6247.1034. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Reid D. D., Fletcher C. M. International studies in chronic respiratory disease. Br Med Bull. 1971 Jan;27(1):59–64. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070816. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Reid D. D. The beginnings of bronchitis. Proc R Soc Med. 1969 Apr;62(4):311–316. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sims D. G., Gardner P. S., Weightman D., Turner M. W., Soothill J. F. Atopy does not predispose to RSV bronchiolitis or postbronchiolitic wheezing. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1981 Jun 27;282(6282):2086–2088. doi: 10.1136/bmj.282.6282.2086. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES