Bronchiolitis risk factors
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Bronchiolitis has a different range of risk factors that can be differentiated based on the age. In adults, common risk factors in the development of bronchiolitis include exposure to cigarette smoke, living in crowded areas, and being immunocompromised. In infants, the risk factors include age < 6 months, lack of breastfeeding, prematurity and having a history of or suffering from congenital heart diseases.
Risk Factors
Common risk factors in infants and children
The following characteristics of infants and children may put them at a higher risk of infectious bronchiolitis:[1][2][3]
- Prematurity, as the maternal transfer of immunoglobulins occurs during the last trimester
- Young children affected with congenital heart diseases are at high risk, due to decreased cardiac output.[4] These diseases include:
- Lack of breast-feeding
- Children and infants infected by chronic lung disease
- Immunocompromised children
Common risk factors in adults
- Exposure to cigarette smoke
- Living in crowded conditions
- Being immunocompromised
- Old age, especially with an underlying heart or lung disease.
References
- ↑ CDC https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/transmission.html Accessed on June 1, 2017
- ↑ Meissner HC (2016). “Viral Bronchiolitis in Children”. N Engl J Med. 374 (1): 62–72. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1413456. PMID 26735994.
- ↑ Stockman LJ, Curns AT, Anderson LJ, Fischer-Langley G (2012). “Respiratory syncytial virus-associated hospitalizations among infants and young children in the United States, 1997-2006”. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 31 (1): 5–9. doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e31822e68e6. PMID 21817948.
- ↑ Feltes TF, Cabalka AK, Meissner HC, Piazza FM, Carlin DA, Top FH; et al. (2003). “Palivizumab prophylaxis reduces hospitalization due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children with hemodynamically significant congenital heart disease”. J Pediatr. 143 (4): 532–40. PMID 14571236.
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