The role of pulmonary infection in pediatric asthma.

Recently, several authors have documented that respiratory infections may cause wheezing and acute exacerbation of asthma in children. Respiratory syncytial virus infections have been recognized to produce the first episode of wheezing in children who go on to develop chronic asthma. Furthermore, repeated infections caused by other common childhood viral pathogens have been proposed to affect responses of the immune system in such a way as to prevent the onset of allergic diseases and possibly asthma.

Influence of HLA antigens and OSAS in childhood: a preliminary report.

Several studies have emphasized the role of familial factors and familial aggregation in increasing susceptibility to obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS); the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible influence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) in the development of sleep disordered breathing and OSAS of children. Between January 2000 and January 2003, all the 370 children [193 males; median age: 5.2 years (range: 1-12 years)] with sleep disordered breathing referred to our Center were screened by a 41-item multiple-choice questionnaire.