Asthma: a chronic infectious disease?

The respiratory microbiota during health and disease: a paediatric perspective

Recent studies investigating the relationship between the microbiota and disease are demonstrating novel concepts that could significantly alter the way we treat disease and promote health in the future. It is suggested that the microbiota acquired during childhood may shape the microbial community and affect immunological responses for later life, and could therefore be important in the susceptibility towards disease. Several diseases, including asthma, pneumonia, and otitis media, are associated with changes in composition and diversity of the respiratory microbiota. This review summarises current literature, focusing on the composition and development of the respiratory microbiota in children and its relationship with respiratory diseases.

Contributing factors to the development of childhood asthma: working toward risk minimization

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in childhood, and considerable research has been undertaken to find ways to prevent its development and reduce its prevalence. For such interventions to be successful, risk factors for asthma emergence should be identified and clearly defined. Data are robust for some of them, including atopy, viral infections and exposure to airborne irritants, whereas it is less conclusive for others, such as aeroallergen exposure and bacterial infections. Several interventions for asthma prevention, including avoidance and pharmacotherapy, have been attempted. However, most of them have furnished equivocal results. Various issues hinder the establishment of risk factors for asthma development and reduce the effectiveness of interventions, including the complexity of the disease and the fluidity of the developing systems in childhood. In this review, we revisit the evidence on pediatric asthma risk factors and prevention and discuss issues that perplex this field.

Asthma: symptoms and presentation

The goal of this article is to inform readers of the common and uncommon signs and symptoms of asthma. After completion of this article, readers should have a firm understanding of the symptoms and presentation leading to a diagnosis of asthma.

Allergic airway diseases in childhood - marching from epidemiology to novel concepts of prevention

In the past years, a wide range of epidemiological, clinical, and experimental studies have produced remarkable advances in the field of respiratory allergies in childhood. By the recent investigations on epidemiological trends, risk factors, and prevention of asthma and allergic rhinitis, various exiting concepts have been challenged, and novel innovative approaches have been developed. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (PAI), with a number of highly relevant contributions between 2010 and 2012, has become an important forum in this area. The prevalence of asthma in some developed countries may have reached a plateau, while in developing countries, where the prevalence was previously low, allergic diseases are still on the increase. A wide array of risk and protective factors, including hygiene, infections, outdoor and indoor air pollution, allergen exposure, breast-feeding practices, nutrition, and obesity, play a multifaceted role in shaping the observed worldwide trends of respiratory allergies. Under the guidance of recent research, prediction and prevention strategies in the clinical practice are progressively changing, the focus moving away from avoidance of allergen exposure and toward tolerance induction.