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Asthma and protracted bronchitis: who fares better during an acute respiratory infection?

Helen L Petsky1, Jason P Acworth, Ronald Clark

  • 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Queensland, Australia. helen_petsky@health.qld.gov.au

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|February 12, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Children with protracted bronchitis experience more severe acute respiratory infections (ARI) than those with asthma or healthy controls, with prolonged cough symptoms lasting up to 14 days.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric respiratory health
  • Infectious disease epidemiology

Background:

  • Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are prevalent in children, causing symptoms that can persist for weeks.
  • Understanding symptom severity differences in pediatric ARI is crucial for effective management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare the severity of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children with asthma versus those with protracted bronchitis and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

  • Parents prospectively recorded ARI symptom severity using the Canadian acute respiratory illness and flu scale (CARIFS) and a cough diary.
  • Data were collected on days 1-7, 10, and 14 of illness for age- and season-matched children.

Main Results:

  • Children with protracted bronchitis showed significantly higher CARIFS scores on days 10 and 14 compared to children with asthma and controls.
  • A higher percentage of children with protracted bronchitis (63%) had persistent cough at day 14 versus asthma (24%) and control groups (26%).

Conclusions:

  • Protracted bronchitis is associated with the most severe ARI symptoms in children.
  • Children with protracted bronchitis exhibit greater respiratory morbidity at 14 days post-illness onset compared to asthmatic and healthy children.
Abstract

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