Wheezing bronchitis in children on a South Pacific Island

Retrospective and prospective studies were done on children with wheezing bronchitis on the small Pacific island of Niue. Wheezing bronchitis was found to be a common cause of morbidity, but not mortality in these children. Episodes of the disease were most common in children under the age of 4 years and tended to disappear as they became older. A case-control study indicated smoking by the mother (P less than 0.0001), positive stool examination for parasites (P less than 0.001), mother with a history of wheezing bronchitis (P less than 0.01) and father smoking (P less than 0.05) were all correlated with wheezing bronchitis. Skin testing and serologic results indicated that hypersensitivity to house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) and plantain (Plantago lanceolata) antigens were also associated with having wheezing bronchitis. This study demonstrates the multifactorial etiology of wheezing bronchitis on a Pacific island.