Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1978 Jan 7;1(6104):11–14. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6104.11

Study of 8-year-old children with a history of respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in infancy.

D G Sims, M A Downham, P S Gardner, J K Webb, D Weightman
PMCID: PMC1602461  PMID: 620129

Abstract

Thirty-five children known to have had respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in infancy were examined at the age of 8 and their respiratory function tested. The results were compared with those in 35 controls matched for age, sex, and social class. Although 18 of the children who had had bronchiolitis in infancy had experienced subsequent episodes of wheezing, these were neither severe nor frequent in most cases and had apparently ceased by the age of 8. Nevertheless, the mean exercise bronchial lability of the children who had had bronchiolitis was significantly higher than that of the control children and the mean peak expiratory flow rate at rest significantly lower. Atopy, assessed by family and personal history alone, did not seem to be related to either bronchiolitis or wheezing episodes after bronchiolitis. The parents of the children who had had bronchiolitis smoked significantly more cigarettes during the infant's first year of life than those of the control children. The results suggest that bronchiolitis and childhood asthma are not closely related. Bronchial hyperreactivity might be inherited independently of atopy, but environmental factors seem the most likely link between severe respiratory infection in infancy and chronic or recurrent respiratory illness in adult life.

Full text

PDF
11

Selected References

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

  1. 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]
  2. Colley J. R., Holland W. W., Corkhill R. T. Influence of passive smoking and parental phlegm on pneumonia and bronchitis in early childhood. Lancet. 1974 Nov 2;2(7888):1031–1034. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92148-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. 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]
  4. Harlap S., Davies A. M. Infant admissions to hospital and maternal smoking. Lancet. 1974 Mar 30;1(7857):529–532. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92714-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. König P., Godfrey S., Abrahamov A. Exercise-induced bronchial lability in children with a history of wheezy bronchitis. Arch Dis Child. 1972 Aug;47(254):578–580. doi: 10.1136/adc.47.254.578. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Leeder S. R., Corkhill R. T., Irwig L. M., Holland W. W. Influence of family factors on asthma and wheezing during the first five years of life. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1976 Dec;30(4):213–218. doi: 10.1136/jech.30.4.213. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Leeder S. R., Corkhill R. T., Wysocki M. J., Holland W. W. Influence of personal and family factors on ventilatory function of children. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1976 Dec;30(4):219–224. doi: 10.1136/jech.30.4.219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lunn J. E., Knowelden J., Handyside A. J. Patterns of respiratory illness in Sheffield infant schoolchildren. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1967 Jan;21(1):7–16. doi: 10.1136/jech.21.1.7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McNichol K. N., Williams H. E. Spectrum of asthma in children. II. Allergic components. Br Med J. 1973 Oct 6;4(5883):12–16. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5883.12. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Neligan G. A., Prudham D. Family factors affecting child development. Arch Dis Child. 1976 Nov;51(11):853–858. doi: 10.1136/adc.51.11.853. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Rooney J. C., Williams H. E. The relationship between proved viral bronchiolitis and subsequent wheezing. J Pediatr. 1971 Nov;79(5):744–747. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(71)80385-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sims D. G., Downham M. A., McQuillin J., Gardner P. S. Respiratory syncytial virus infection in north-east England. Br Med J. 1976 Nov 6;2(6044):1095–1098. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6044.1095. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Williams H., McNicol K. N. Prevalence, natural history, and relationship of wheezy bronchitis and asthma in children. An epidemiological study. Br Med J. 1969 Nov 8;4(5679):321–325. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5679.321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES