Skip to main content
PMC home page
Wiley - PMC COVID-19 Collection logoLink to Wiley - PMC COVID-19 Collection
. 2006 Apr 27;22(3):325–336. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.1992.tb03094.x

Viruses as precipitants of asthma symptoms. I. Epidemiology

P K PATTEMORE 1, S L JOHNSTON 2,✉, P G BARDIN 2
PMCID: PMC7162032  PMID: 1586873

Abstract

Christopher Robin had wheezles and sneezles, they bundled him into his bed.

They gave him what goes with a cold in the nose, and some more for a cold in the head.

They wondered if wheezles could turn into measles, if measles would turn into mumps;

They examined his chest for a rash, and the rest of his body for swellings and lumps.

They sent for some doctors in sneezles and wheezles, to tell them what ought to be done.

All sorts and conditions of famous physicians came hurrying round at a run.

They all made a note of the state of his throat, they asked if he suffered from thirst;

They asked if the sneezles came after the wheezles, or if the first sneezle came first.

They said, ‘If you teazle a sneezle or wheezle, a measle may easily grow.

But humour or pleazle the wheezle or sneezle, the measle will certainly go.’

They expounded the reazles for sneezles and wheezles, the manner of measles when new.

They said ‘If he freezles in draughts and in breezles, then PHTHEEZLES may even ensue.’

Christopher Robin got up in the morning, the sneezles had vanished away.

And the look in his eye seemed to say to the sky, ‘Now, how to amuse them today?’

A. A. Milne, Now We Are Six, 1927.

References

  • 1. Andrewes CH. Virus III in tissue cultures. 1. The appearance of intranuclear inclusions in vitro. Br J Exp Pathol 1929; 10:188–93. [Google Scholar]
  • 2. Rivers TM, Haagen E, Muckenfuss RS. A method of studying virus infection and virus immunity in tissue cultures. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1929; 26:494–6. [Google Scholar]
  • 3. Smith A, Andrewes CH, Laidlaw PP. A virus obtained from influenza patients. Lancet 1933; ii:66–8. [Google Scholar]
  • 4. Tyrrell DAJ, Parsons R. Some virus isolations from common colds. III. Cytopathic effects in tissue cultures. Lancet 1960; i:239–42. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 5. Taylor‐Robinson D. Laboratory and volunteer studies on some viruses isolated from common colds (rhinoviruses). Am Rev Respir Dis 1963; 88:262–8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 6. Tyrrell DAJ, Bynoe ML. Cultivation of a novel type of common‐cold virus in organ cultures. Br Med J 1965; 1467–70. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
  • 7. Hamre D, Procknow JJ. A new virus isolated from the human respiratory tract. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med 1966; 121:190–3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 8. Stevens FA. Acute asthmatic episodes in children caused by upper respiratory bacteria during colds, with and without bacterial sensitization. J Allergy 1953; 24:221–6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 9. Feingold BF. Infection in bronchial allergic disease: bronchial asthma, allergic bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis. Pediatr Clin North Am 1959; 6:709–24. [Google Scholar]
  • 10. Fries JH, Borne S. Remission of intractable allergic symptoms by acute intercurrent infection. Ann Intern Med 1953; 38:928–34. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11. Podosin RL, Felton WL. The clinical picture of Far‐East influenza occurring at the 4th National Boy Scout Jamboree. N Engl J Med 1958; 258:778–82. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 12. Rebhan AW. An outbreak of asian influenza in a girls' camp. Can Med Assoc J 1957; 77:797–9. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 13. Chanock R, Finberg L. Recovery from infants with respiratory illness of a virus related to chimpanzee coryza agent. II Epidemiologic aspects of infection in infants and young children. Am J Hyg 1957; 66:291–300. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 14. Freeman GL. Wheezing associated with respiratory tract infections in children: the role of specific infectious agents in allergic respiratory manifestations. Clin Pediatr 1966; 5:586–92. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 15. Horn MEC, Brain E, Gregg I, Yealland SJ, Taylor P. Respiratory viral infection in children: a survey in general practice, Roehampton 1967. J Hyg(Camb) 1975; 74:157–68. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 16. Horn MEC, Brain EA, Gregg I, Inglis JM, Yealland SJ, Taylor P. Respiratory viral infection and wheezy bronchitis in childhood. Thorax 1979; 34:23–8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 17. Mitchell I, Inglis JM, Simpson H. Viral infection as a precipitant of wheeze in children: combined home and hospital study. Arch Dis Child 1978; 53:106–11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 18. Hudgel DW, Langston L, Selner JC, McIntosh K. Viral and bacterial infections in adults with chronic asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis 1979; 120:393–7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 19. Jennings LC, Barns G, Dawson KP. The association of viruses with acute asthma. NZ Med J 1987; 100:488–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 20. Maletsky AJ, Cooney MK, Luce R, Kemny GE, Grayston JT. Epidemiology of viral and mycoplasmal agents associated with childhood lower respiratory illness in a civilian population. J Pediatr 1971; 78:407–14. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 21. Horn MEC, Yealland SJ. The significance of respiratory virus isolations: a study in primary school children. Arch Dis Child 1974; 49:516–9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 22. Minor TE, Dick EC, DeMeo AN, Ouellette JJ, Cohen M, Reed CE. Viruses as precipitants of asthmatic attacks in children. J Am Med Assoc 1974; 227:292–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 23. Roldaan AC, Masural N. Viral respiratory infections in asthmatic children staying in a mountain resort. Eur J Respir Dis 1982; 63:140–50. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 24. McIntosh K, Ellis EF, Hoffman LS, Lybass TG, Eller JJ, Fulginiti VA. The association of viral and bacterial respiratory infections with exacerbations of wheezing in young asthmatic children. J Pediatr 1973; 82:578–90. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 25. Disney ME, Matthews R, Williams JD. The role of infection in the morbidity of asthmatic children admitted to hospital. Clin Allergy 1971; 1:399–406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 26. Minor TE, Baker JW, Dick EC, DeMeo AN, Ouellette JJ, Cohen M, Reed CE. Greater frequency of viral respiratory infections in asthmatic children as compared with their non‐asthmatic siblings. J Pediatr 1974; 85:472–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 27. Horn MEC, Reed SE, Taylor P. Role of viruses and bacteria in acute wheezy bronchitis in childhood: a study of sputum. Arch Dis Child 1979; 54:587–92. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 28. Carlsen KH, Orstavik I, Leegaard J, Hoeg H. Respiratory virus infections and aeroallergens and acute bronchial asthma. Arch Dis Child 1984; 59:310–5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 29. Isaacs D, Clarke JR, Tyrrell DAJ, Webster ADB, Valman HB. Epidemiology of recurrent respiratory infections in preschool children. Mod Probl Paediatr 1982; 21:143–9. [Google Scholar]
  • 30. Berman SZ, Mathison DA, Stevenson DD, Tan EM, Vaughan JH. Transtracheal aspiration studies in asthmatic patients in relapse with “infective” asthma and in subjects without respiratory disease. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1975; 56:206–14. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 31. Slavin RG, Cannon RE, Friedman WH, Palitang E, Sundaram M. Sinusitis and bronchial asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1980; 66:250–7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 32. Rachelefsky GS, Katz RM, Siegel SC. Chronic sinus disease with associated reactive airway disease in children. Pediatrics 1984; 73:526–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 33. Bardin PG, Van Heerden BB, Joubert JR. Absence of pulmonary aspiration of sinus contents in patients with asthma and sinusitis. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1990; 86:82–8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 34. Berkovich S, Millian SJ, Snyder RD. The association of viral and mycoplasma infections with recurrence of wheezing in the asthmatic child. Ann Allergy 1970; 28:43–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 35. Shapiro GG, Eggleston PA, Pierson WE, Ray CG, Bierman CW. Double‐blind study of the effectiveness of a broad spectrum antibiotic in status asthmaticus. Pediatrics 1974; 53:867–72. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 36. Warner JO, Gotz M, Landau LI, Levison H, Milner AD, Pedersen S, Silverman M. Management of asthma: a consensus statement. Arch Dis Child 1989; 64:1065–79. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 37. Henderson FW, Clyde WA, Collier AM, Denny FW, Senior RJ, Sheaffer CI, Conley WG, Christian RM. The etiologic and epidemiologic spectrum of bronchiolitis in pediatric practice. J Pediatr 1979; 95:183–90. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 38. Mertsola J, Ziegler T, Ruuskanen O, Vanto T, Koivikko A, Halonen P. Recurrent wheezy bronchitis and viral respiratory infections. Arch Dis Child 1991; 66:124–9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 39. Potter PC, Weinberg E, Shore SCL. Acute severe asthma: a prospective study of the precipitating factors in 40 children. S Afr Med J 1984; 66:397–402. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 40. Storr J, Lenney W. School holidays and admissions with asthma. Arch Dis Child 1989; 64:103–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 41. Beasley R, Coleman ED, Hermon Y, Holst PE, O'Donnell TV, Tobias M. Viral respiratory tract infection and exacerbations of asthma in adult patients. Thorax 1988; 43:679–83. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 42. Mitchell I, Inglis H, Simpson H. Viral infections in wheezy bronchitis and asthma in children. Arch Dis Child 1976; 51:707–11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 43. Tyrrell DAJ. A collaborative study of the aetiology of acute respiratory infections in Britain 1961–4. A report of the Medical Research Council Working Party on acute respiratory virus infections. Br Med J 1965; 2:319–26. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 44. Glezen WP, Loda FA, Clyde WA, Senior RJ, Sheaffer CI, Conley WG, Denny FW. Epidemiologic patterns of acute lower respiratory disease of children in a pediatric group practice. J Pediatr 1971; 78:397–406. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 45. Lambert HP, Stern H. Infective factors in exacerbations of bronchitis and asthma. Br Med J 1972; 3:323–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 46. Minor TE, Dick EC, Baker JW, Ouellette JJ, Cohen M, Reed CE. Rhinovirus and influenza type A infections as precipitants of asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis 1976; 113:149–53. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 47. Huhti E, Mokka T, Nikoskelainen J, Halonen P. Association of viral and mycoplasma infections with exacerbations of asthma. Ann Allergy 1974; 33:145–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 48. Simpson H, Matthew DJ, Inglis JM, George EL. Virological findings and blood gas tensions in acute lower respiratory tract infections in children. Br Med J 1974; 2:629–32. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 49. Gwaltney JM Jr. The common cold In: Mandell GL, Douglas RG, Jr, Bennett JE, eds. Principles and practice of infectious diseases: New York : John Wiley, 1979; 429–35. [Google Scholar]
  • 50. Clarke CW. Relationship of bacterial and viral infection to exacerbations of asthma. Thorax 1979; 34:344–7. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 51. Tarlo S, Broder I, Spence L. A prospective study of respiratory infection in adult asthmatics and their normal spouses. Clin Allergy 1979; 9:293–301. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 52. Kellner G, Popow‐Kraupp T, Kundi M, Binder C, Kunz C. Clinical manifestations of respiratory tract infections due to respiratory syncytial virus and rhinoviruses in hospitalized children. Acta Paediatr Scand 1989; 78:390–4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 53. Gardner PS, Stanfield JP, Wright AE, Court SDM, Green CA. Viruses, bacteria and respiratory disease in children. Br Med J 1960; 1:1077–81. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 54. Freeman GL, Todd RH. The role of allergy in viral respiratory tract infections. Am J Dis Child 1962; 104:330–7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 55. Carlsen KH, Orstavik I. Bronchopulmonary obstruction in children with respiratory virus infections. Eur J Respir Dis 1984; 65:92–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 56. Horn MEC, Gregg I. Role of virus infections and host factors in acute episodes of asthma and chronic bronchitis. Chest 1973; 63(Suppl):44S–48S. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 57. Isaacs D, Clarke JR, Tyrrell DAJ, Valman HB. Selective infection of lower respiratory tract by respiratory viruses in children with recurrent respiratory tract infections. Br Med J 1982; 284:1746–8. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 58. Cogswell JJ, Halliday DF, Alexander JR. Respiratory infections in the first year of life in children at risk of developing atopy. Br Med J 1982; 284:1011–3. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Allergy are provided here courtesy of Wiley

RESOURCES