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Effect of Respiratory Infections on Exacerbation of Asthma in Adult Patients
Author(s) -
Kava T.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1986.tb00346.x
Subject(s) - medicine , exacerbation , asthma , respiratory system , asthma exacerbations , incidence (geometry) , respiratory disease , pediatrics , lung , physics , optics
The peak expiratory flow values and asthma symptom scores of 92 adults with extrinsic and intrinsic asthma were recorded daily from September 1981 to April 1982 in order to study the effects of symptomatic respiratory infections (SRI) on the course of asthma. During the follow‐up, 253 exacerbations of asthma were observed in 67 patients. 68 subjects had 141 episodes of SRI. 63 of 253 exacerbations (25%) were found in association with SRI. The mean duration of the exacerbations associated with SRI was 13.4 days, significantly different ( P < 0.01) from the mean duration of 8.1 days recorded for the other exacerbations. The results confirm the high incidence of asthmatic exacerbations during respiratory infections and suggest that the recovery from an exacerbation is slower in association with infection.