Does Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection in the first two years of life contribute to the development of asthma among children in Manitoba?

Abstract

The study was conducted with a total of 13980 children of the 1995 birth cohort, who were living in Manitoba by the end of December, 2006. Higher frequency of RSV-associated LRTI before 2 years was associated with higher risks of asthma diagnosis at 7 and 11 years and also with risks of transient wheeze and early persistent asthma. Higher risk of asthma diagnosis was associated with more severe episode(s) of RSV-associated LRTI within the first 2 years of life. First clinically significant RSV-LRTI between 6 and 12 months was associated with the highest risks of asthma diagnosis at 7 and at 11 years. But first RSV-associated LRTI within the first 6 months of life was associated with the highest risk of asthma/transient wheezing before the age of 3 years and early persistent asthma and transient wheeze. These associations were diminishing with increasing age of the children of the study cohort.