Skip to main content
PMC home page
Thorax logoLink to Thorax
. 1986 Feb;41(2):106–110. doi: 10.1136/thx.41.2.106

Seasonal pattern of acute bronchitis in general practice in the United Kingdom 1976-83.

J G Ayres
PMCID: PMC460271  PMID: 3704975

Abstract

Weekly returns from the Royal College of General Practitioners research unit for acute respiratory illnesses in general practice in the United Kingdom show appreciable variation in attack rates for acute bronchitis, from a peak in January to a trough in August. In 1983, for example, it varied from 171.4 per 100 000 to 34.5 per 100 000. This pattern is identical for all years from 1976 to 1983. Attack rates are highest in the extremes of life and lowest in the 15-44 age group. As many cases of asthma are misdiagnosed as acute bronchitis, further analysis of these data will be difficult until the exact diagnostic criteria for acute bronchitis used by these general practitioners are established.

Full text

PDF
106

Selected References

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

  1. Dodge R. R., Burrows B. The prevalence and incidence of asthma and asthma-like symptoms in a general population sample. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1980 Oct;122(4):567–575. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1980.122.4.567. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. EDWARDS J. H. The recognition and estimation of cyclic trends. Ann Hum Genet. 1961 May;25:83–87. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-1809.1961.tb01501.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fleming D. M., Crombie D. L. The incidence of common infectious diseases: the weekly returns service of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Health Trends. 1985 Feb;17(1):13–16. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HOLLAND W. W., SPICER C. C., WILSON J. M. Influence of the weather on respiratory and heart disease. Lancet. 1961 Aug 12;2(7198):338–341. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(61)90633-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Khot A., Burn R., Evans N., Lenney C., Lenney W. Seasonal variation and time trends in childhood asthma in England and Wales 1975-81. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1984 Jul 28;289(6439):235–237. doi: 10.1136/bmj.289.6439.235. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Phelan P. D. Does adult chronic obstructive lung disease really begin in childhood? Br J Dis Chest. 1984 Jan;78(1):1–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Speight A. N., Lee D. A., Hey E. N. Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of asthma in childhood. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Apr 16;286(6373):1253–1256. doi: 10.1136/bmj.286.6373.1253. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Welliver R. C. Upper respiratory infections in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1983 Oct;72(4):341–346. doi: 10.1016/0091-6749(83)90497-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Thorax are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES