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Author Spotlight: Efficacy of Auricular Pressure Bean Therapy in Reducing Wheezing Symptoms
Published on: May 10, 2024
The wheezing infant
1is Professor in Child Health at the University of Leicester, UK. His interests are asthma and other lung diseases in children.
Insights
Wheezing is a common infant symptom, not a diagnosis, affecting up to 30% of children. While most cases are episodic or viral, serious underlying conditions like cystic fibrosis are rare, impacting only 2-3% of the population.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Medicine
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Wheezing is a prevalent symptom in infancy, with 20-30% of children experiencing recurrent episodes by 12 months.
- It stems from airway narrowing, either peripheral or central, and is often linked to viral infections or asthma-like symptoms.
- While specific causes like cystic fibrosis are rare (2-3%), the overall prevalence of wheezing has genuinely increased in industrialized nations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To differentiate wheezing as a symptom from specific diagnoses.
- To highlight the prevalence of various wheezing causes in children.
- To discuss the increasing trend of wheezing and its impact on healthcare.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature and epidemiological data on childhood wheezing.
- Analysis of the differential causes of wheezing, distinguishing common from rare conditions.
- Examination of trends in wheezing prevalence and hospital admissions.
Main Results:
- Wheezing affects a significant portion of infants (20-30%), but specific diagnoses are uncommon (2-3%).
- Viral-induced wheezing and asthma-like symptoms are the most frequent presentations.
- A genuine increase in wheezing prevalence and hospital admissions has been observed, particularly during respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) epidemics.
Conclusions:
- Wheezing requires careful evaluation to distinguish benign, episodic conditions from serious underlying diseases.
- The rising incidence of wheezing necessitates continued research and public health attention.
- Understanding the diverse causes of wheezing is crucial for effective diagnosis and management in pediatric populations.
Abstract:
Wheeze is a symptom and not a diagnosis. It is extremely common in infancy; 20-30% of children have experienced recurrent episodic wheezing by the age of 12 months. Wheezing may result from widespread peripheral airway narrowing or, less commonly, from localized central disease. Excluding recurrent viral wheezing and asthma-like symptoms, all other specific causes of wheezing (e.g. cystic fibrosis, congenital airway disorders, chronic lung disease of prematurity) affect only 2-3% of the population. Although wheezing disease preceded by acute viral bronchiolitis early in infancy features prominently in most articles on childhood asthma, it affects, at most, 1% of the population. The increased prevalence of reported wheezing in industrialized countries until the mid-1990s, accompanied by an increase in the number of hospital admissions for wheezing, represents a true increase in the problem rather than simply increased awareness. In the UK, wheezing in pre-school children accounts for about 25% of acute hospital admissions in childhood, and almost 50% during epidemics of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection.
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