Developmental regulation of type 1 and type 3 interferon production and risk for infant infections and asthma development.

Background: Virus-associated febrile lower respiratory tract infections (fLRIs) during infancy have been identified as risk factors for persistent wheeze development. We hypothesized that variations in innate immune defense capacity during this period, as exemplified by production of type 1 and 3 interferons (T1/3IFNs), might be an underlying determinant of risk.

Objective: We sought to investigate relationships between postnatal development of innate interferon response capacity and susceptibility to early infections and persistent wheeze.