RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Effects of respiratory viral infections on the lower respiratory tract of children, especially asthmatic children
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP p1147
VO 38
IS Suppl 55
A1 Asako Fujitsuka
A1 Mika Arakawa
A1 Kazuko Sugai
A1 Masahiro Noda
A1 Hirokazu Kimura
YR 2011
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1147.abstract
AB Aim: Recent studies strongly suggest that some respiratory viruses are associated with exacerbation of asthma. We examined their characteristics and their effects on children with acute lower respiratory symptoms and asthma.Method: We examined some respiratory viruses in nasopharyngeal swabs using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay or RT-PCR and analyzed their clinical data obtained from 107 children (M/F 70/37, mean age 25.7±27.9 months) with lower respiratory symptoms who were treated in our hospitals between January and November 2010. From clinical records, we prospectively investigated the clinical symptoms of the children.Results: RSV was detected in 27 samples, HRV in 31, HRV and RSV together in 4, HRV and HBoV together in 2, EV in 7, PIV in 5, HBoV in 2, and AdV in 2, but no virus was detected in 29. In the RSV group, asthmatic children numbered 10 and non-asthmatic children, 17, (of whom 11 were inpatients and 6, outpatients). The mean age of the inpatients (9.3±8.2 months) was significantly less than that of the outpatients (26.2±14.2 months) (p=0.003). In the HRV group, the frequency of severe respiratory symptoms was significantly higher in asthmatics than in non-asthmatics (p=0.04). The mean age of the asthmatic inpatients tends to be higher than that of the asthmatic outpatients.Conclusion: Younger children are more susceptible than older children to severe respiratory symptoms in RSV infections, while, asthmatic school-age children tend to have severe asthmatic symptoms with HRV infections. These findings suggest that asthma exacerbation in school-age children may be associated with HRV infections.