Adults face increased asthma risk after infant RSV bronchiolitis and reduced respiratory health-related quality of life after RSV pneumonia

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the association between hospitalisation for respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infection (RSV LRTI) in infancy and asthma, respiratory health-related quality of life and lung function at 28-31 years of age.

Methods: In 2010, we carried out a 30-year follow-up on 43 adults admitted to Kuopio University Hospital, Finland, for RSV LRTI, 27 for bronchiolitis and 16 for pneumonia, between 1981 and 1982. Together with 86 population-based controls, they completed the Saint George's Respiratory Questionnaire and underwent prebronchodilator (pre-BD) and post-BD spirometry tests to measure percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%), percentage of predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1%) and percentage of predicted FEV1/FVC (FEV1/FVC%).

Results: Both the pre-BD and post-BD FEV1% and FEV1/FVC% were significantly lower in former RSV LRTI patients than in the controls. The bronchiolitis patients had more asthma in adulthood than the controls and pneumonia in infancy was associated with lower St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) scores.

Conclusion: Respiratory tract infection LRTI hospitalisation in infancy was associated with an increased risk of permanent obstructive lung function reduction in adulthood. The asthma risk was higher after hospitalisation for bronchiolitis, than in the controls, and respiratory health-related quality of life was lower after hospitalisation for pneumonia.

Keywords: Asthma; Bronchiolitis; Lower respiratory tract infection; Lung function; Pneumonia; Respiratory syncytial virus.