Rhinovirus Inducing Wheezing And Asthma Exacerbation

Acute bronchitis is one of the five top reasons to seek medical care in the United States. The incidence of acute bronchitis is typically higher in fall and winter season, accounting for 82% of the cases (Fayyaz, 2014). It affects full spectrum of population including any age group, gender and demographics. The incidence of acute bronchitis accounts for 36 million office visits annually (Blush, 2013). Although it can be seen in variety of patients, children tend to get acute bronchitis as many 6 times a year where as adults acquire about two to four on average every year (Blush, 2013). These

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) causes acute respiratory tract infection in patients of all ages and is one of the most popular diseases of childhood. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, which manifests primarily as bronchiolitis and/or viral pneumonia, is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract (LRT) infection in infants and young children. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) and pneumonia in children under one year of age in the United States. During the first year of life, most infants are infected with the virus. Most RSV infected children encounter

The respiratory syncytial pathogen is a non-segmented negative -sense single stranded RNA virus that falls under the paramyxoviridae family. The virus is comprised of 10 genes the encode 11 proteins and is divided into two subtypes A and B, which further divide into multiple genotypes. Genetic studies have tried

Respiratory Synctial Virus (RSV) is an infection that is contagious that resembles the common cold a lot of times. RSV is the most common viral pathogen that causes lower respiratory tract infections in infants. RSV infection in infancy cause severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia and may incline children to the following development of asthma, the most common chronic illness of childhood. RSV is the most single related cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis. Epidemics of the virus are seen each winter, 80% of infections typically occur during a three-month period. The virus is not typically severe during infancy but it is rare if it happens. (As, in my case I was born with the RSV virus and was hospitalized for eighteen days and was put on assisted ventilation.) In infants RSV infection can spread to the bronchial tubes and lungs. The virus can also infect adults, in where the infection can cause viral pneumonia, which is sometimes followed by a bacterial infection of the lower respiratory system.

RSV is the most common cause of LRTI’s leading to morbidity and mortality in children across the world. Most children have acquired an RSV infection by the time they reach 2 years of age. It is typical to see these infections during the winter/early spring seasons in temperate regions, and during the rainy seasons in tropical areas. This is likely due to the increase of indoor crowding related to weather. The transmission of RSV requires close contact by either a large particle aerosol, or by contamination of hands followed by an inoculation into the eye or nose. Secondary infections are seen in in family contacts of an individual with a primary case due to their close contact.

To better understand the impact of asthma, a brief overview of the causes (aetiology) and disease progression (pathophysiology) must be shown. As common as asthma is, not much is known about its aetiology, according to findings presented by Subbaroa, Mandhane and Sears (2009, pg. 181-187) in a review from the Canadian

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children (Kahn and Boskey). Childhood asthma is when the lungs and airways become inflamed when something comes in contact to trigger it. There are different objects or activities to trigger a child’s asthma and if not treated appropriately it can cause an asthma attack. This disease can outbreak from a cold or any respiratory infection. Daily symptoms can interfere with a child’s asthma like a cold, sports, school, or play ("Childhood Asthma."). In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 5 million children under the age of 18 have this disease. In 1993 alone, asthma was the reason for almost 200,000 hospital stays and about 340 deaths under the age of 25 (Kahn and Boskey). Normally children will outgrow this disease by the time they

Based on previous research and literature, the common cold virus (Rhinovirus) aggravates symptoms of asthma. In addition, those with asthma tend to be affected by Rhinovirus more often than healthy patients, or allergic individuals without asthma. Our hypothesis is that there are differences in innate immunity that result in an exaggerated response in asthmatics. In order to unravel the mechanism behind this difference, nose scrapings were taken from asthmatic and non-asthmatic patients. The epithelial cells were treated with varying conditions including control media, rhinovirus at concentrations of 10TCID and 100TCID, and poly dIdC, which is a RNA mimic of the common virus designed

About 10% of American children have asthma (Thakur et al., 2013). It is vital to understand what determinants cause childhood asthma to understand even with a low percentage, why it is still present. According to Williams et al., asthma is a health outcome which is a major impact on American youth (Williams et al., 2009). This health outcome not only impacts them throughout the years of being a child, but it has the potential of creating more serious health problems in the future. And without knowing what the causes are, it increases the rate asthma among children and prevents treatments from being implemented. It needs to be addressed by using results from prior studies in order to show how much of a problem childhood asthma is but also in finding and understanding the other underlying

RSV is a virus that is hard to diagnosis because the signs and symptoms are a lot like the common cold. One may start to develop a runny nose or decrease in appetite the first couple of days when having this virus; but coughing, sneezing, and wheezing may also occur. In young infants, they may experience irritability or difficulties with breathing (“CDC,” 2014). One may have this virus before realizing the symptoms like a dry cough, low grade fever, sore throat or headache (Mayo Clinic, 1998). Someone with an upper respiratory tract infection may have a fever, headache, sore throat or wheezing; whereas someone with a lower respiratory tract infection may have a cough, increased breathing rate, tightness in the chest. While both tract infections should be taken seriously, they both can lead to RSV.

The cause is not known, but the exposure to environmental and genetic factors seems to play an important role. The main symptom is an asthma flare-up or asthma attack, provoking cough, chest tightness, breathing trouble and wheezing. The attacks can be trigger by tobacco smoke, pollution, mold, pollen, dust,… etc. Asthma has no cure, but it is possible to take some medication such as the inhalation of short-acting-beta2-agonist allowing the muscles to relax and improve the air flow. It is also important to avoid the exposure to the triggers.4

Bronchiolitis is a lower respiratory infection caused commonly by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the first two years of life. Nearly every child in the United States will be infected with RSV before its second birthday. The condition is a leading cause of hospital admissions among children under the age of two. The populations most frequently and severely affected by bronchiolitis include; infants less than 12 months of age, children born at a low gestational age (less than 32 weeks), and children with chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, or immunodeficiency. Standardized and proper diagnosis and management are essential to effective treatment. The guideline established by the Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2014 provides practitioners with recommendations for diagnosis, management, and prevention of bronchiolitis in children.

Beigelman, A., & Bacharier, L. B. (2016). Early-life respiratory infections and asthma development. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 16(2), 172-178.

Bronchiolitis is defined by the textbook as, “a diffuse, inflammatory obstruction in the small airways or bronchioles occurring most commonly in children” (Heuther & McCance, 2012). It is an acute inflammatory disease of the lower respiratory tract that occurs most commonly in infants and is caused by infection with seasonal viruses such as respiratory synctial virus (RSV) (Zorc & Hall, 2010). Bronchiolitis often results from an obstruction of the small airways. It is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the United States (Zorc & Hall 2010) and is arguably the most common significant medical illness of childhood, with at least “1 in 7 normal infants developing symptomatic bronchiolitis in his or her first year of

Childhood asthma impacts scores of youngsters and their families. In fact, the bulk of kids develop respiratory illness before the age of