Researchers reveal early RSV infection associated to increased risk of asthma in children

Washington [US], April 24 (ANI): The development of childhood wheezing illnesses has long been linked to severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, but the connection between RSV infection during infancy and the emergence of childhood asthma has remained unclear...

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre have discovered a new observational study that links RSV infection in the first year of life to a markedly higher risk of asthma in children..

For 60 years investigators have repeatedly identified the link between severe RSV and asthma; however, weve shown that this link is explained in part by shared heredity to both severe RSV and asthma, said the studys principal investigator and senior author Tina Hartert, MD, MPH, professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, director of the Center for Asthma and Environmental Sciences Research, Vice President for Translational Research and the Lulu H..

In our study, among healthy children born at term, not being infected with RSV in the first year of life was associated with a substantially reduced risk of developing childhood asthma, which affects about 8% of the children in the U.S., Rosas-Salazar said..

We hope the results of this study motivate long-term follow-up of common respiratory outcomes among children in ongoing clinical trials of RSV prevention products, including vaccines and monoclonal antibodies that can decrease the severity of the infection, Rosas-Salazar said.. Showing efficacy of RSV vaccines against childhood asthma would increase public health interest and vaccine uptake, Hartert said..

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