Asthma is a condition whose causes are theoretically understood, but in fact insufficiently so. It is noticeable that there is an inflammatory response in the course of this entity, and treatment options for asthma are known, although researchers are still struggling with various uncertainties regarding this entity. It is for this reason that many researchers are interested in asthma - one of them being scientists from the Dutch Erasmus MC University Medical Centre.

The aforementioned specialists investigated the impact of respiratory infections experienced by children on their risk of asthma and impaired lung function. Overall, they analysed data on more than 150,000 children.

The scientists divided the respiratory infections into two groups: the first were upper respiratory tract infections (such as sinusitis, pharyngitis or ear infections) and the second were lower respiratory tract infections (such as bronchitis or pneumonia). After relevant analyses, it became clear that lower respiratory tract infections posed the greatest risk - children who had this problem frequently had an increased risk of asthma and impaired lung function in later life. In contrast, upper respiratory tract infections - although to a lesser extent - increased the risk of children developing asthma.

By what mechanism the increased risk of the above-mentioned problems would occur, the researchers were unable to establish clearly - additional studies would be required for this. However, the Dutch team is already planning further studies, which would also aim to find out whether the risk of asthma and poor lung function associated with children suffering from respiratory infections could be reduced, for example by appropriate vaccination.