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. 2021 Jan;76(1):247-254.
doi: 10.1111/all.14479. Epub 2020 Jul 21.

Clinical correlates of rhinovirus infection in preschool asthma

Tuomas Jartti  1 , Unna Liimatainen  1 , Paraskevi Xepapadaki  2 , Tero Vahlberg  3 , Claus Bachert  4 , Susetta Finotto  5 , Marek L Kowalski  6 , Anna Sobanska  6 , Heikki Lukkarinen  1 , Maria Pasioti  2 , Tytti Vuorinen  7 , Nan Zhang  4 , Theodor Zimmermann  8 , Nikolaos G Papadopoulos  2   9
Affiliations

Clinical correlates of rhinovirus infection in preschool asthma

Tuomas Jartti et al. Allergy. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Investigation of preschool asthma is important since not all children outgrow their illness during this age. Data are scarce on the role of rhinovirus (RV) infections in this patient group.

Objectives: To investigate the role of RV infections in preschool asthma: (i) susceptibility factors, (ii) clinical course, and (iii) medium-term outcome.

Methods: A total of 130 asthmatic children aged 4-6 years from the multinational PreDicta cohort were prospectively followed for a 12-month period. Allergy tests and a standard health questionnaire were carried out at study entry. Respiratory virus presence in nasopharyngeal washes was studied at illness visits and at 3 scheduled visits.

Results: At study entry, mean age of the children was 5.3 years. Of 571 visits, 54% were positive for any virus and 39% for RV. Patient characteristics were only assessed with RV infection due to low number of other viruses. The use of supplementary vitamin D was inversely associated with RV infection (P < .05). RV infection was associated with more severe course of acute illness in terms of more severe nighttime coughing, more sleep disturbances, and more days with runny nose (all P < .05). RV infection was also associated with more severe disease course during the 12-month follow-up in terms of more nights with awakenings and more days of exercise-related symptoms (both P < .05).

Conclusions: Vitamin D supplementation may have an anti-rhinovirus effect. Both short- and medium-term outcomes suggest RV infection to be an important clinical marker of instable preschool asthma.

Keywords: asthma; child; preschool; rhinovirus; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest in connection with this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study flowchart
Figure 2
Figure 2
The association between rhinovirus detection and respiratory symptoms at illness visits. Significant and positive associations were found with (A) nighttime coughing, (B) sleep disturbances, (C) runny nose, and a tendency with (D) the severity of exacerbation. Data are shown as mean (standard error of mean) for better visualization and are analyzed using Mann‐Whitney U test
Figure 3
Figure 3
The association between rhinovirus detection and activity of asthma within 12 months. Significant and positive associations were found with (A) night awakenings and (B) exercise‐induced symptoms. Data are shown as mean (standard error of mean) for better visualization and are analyzed using Mann‐Whitney U test
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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