RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Rhinovirus infections in infancy and early childhood
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 443
OP 452
DO 10.1183/09031936.00203511
VO 41
IS 2
A1 Elisabeth Kieninger
A1 Oliver Fuchs
A1 Philipp Latzin
A1 Urs Frey
A1 Nicolas Regamey
YR 2013
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/41/2/443.abstract
AB Rhinovirus (RV) infections occur early and recurrently in life, imposing a significant burden of disease on infants and young children. They are the most frequent causative agents of both upper and lower respiratory tract infections in this age group and are associated with a broad variety of clinical outcomes, ranging from asymptomatic infections to severe respiratory disease requiring hospitalisation. In addition to their impact on short-term morbidity, RVs are also debated as important pathogens in the development of recurrent wheeze and/or asthma. Several studies in infants at high-risk for atopy and asthma and in hospitalised children have demonstrated that recurrent wheezing illnesses induced by RVs early in life are a risk factor for the development of asthma later in childhood. However, underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. The question whether RVs are directly involved in the development of childhood wheeze and asthma, or whether symptomatic RV infections only represent a proxy for infants prone to develop obstructive lung diseases, is still open. In this review we provide an overview on the role of RVs as important disease-causing agents from infancy to early childhood and discuss their contribution to the subsequent development of childhood wheeze and/or asthma.