Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology

2004 April, Vol. VII, No. 1 (pp.2379-2388)

Viruses and asthma

Andrew Bush

Vi­ru­ses in­te­ract im­por­tant­ly with ast­hma and its tre­at­ment. The re­la­tions­hip bet­we­en vi­ral in­fec­tion and res­pi­ra­to­ry di­se­a­se is com­plex. Vi­ral in­fec­tion is the sin­gle most im­por­tant cau­se of exa­cer­ba­tion of ast­hma. Ho­we­ver, vi­ru­ses, inc­lu­ding RSV, do not ac­tu­al­ly cau­se ast­hma. The pat­hop­hy­sio­lo­gy of vi­rus in­du­ced symp­toms in young chil­dren sug­gests that in­ha­led ste­roid the­ra­py is ra­re­ly use­ful, and this is bor­ne out by cli­ni­cal ex­pe­rien­ce. The ef­fects of vi­ru­ses in cau­sing ste­roid re­sis­tan­ce, and their in­te­rac­tion with al­ler­gens, are a sub­ject of on­going re­se­arch. This com­mu­ni­ca­tion will dis­cuss the fol­lo­wing is­su­es: vi­ral mi­mics of ast­hma, vi­rus as­so­cia­ted whe­e­ze, RSV ro­le in chil­dren whe­e­ze, acu­te vi­ral in­fec­tion and exa­cer­ba­tion in known ast­hma­tics, vi­ral in­fec­tions and ste­roid re­sis­tan­ce, and vi­ral in­fec­tion and al­ler­gens.

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