Infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae can trigger acute asthma and is associated with severe chronic asthma. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between airway inflammation and serological response to C. pneumoniae in acute severe asthma. Subjects (n=54) were recruited within 4 h of presentation to the emergency department with an acute exacerbation of asthma. Clinical hi...

OBJECTIVE To understand how psychological stress heightens risk for asthma flare-ups, we examined the relationship between acute stress, chronic family stress, and the production of asthma-related cytokines. METHODS Seventy-one children with asthma and 76 medically healthy children completed interviews regarding life stress, and peripheral blood samples were collected. After mononuclear cells...

Severe viral bronchiolitis and severe acute asthma are common causes of acute respiratory insufficiency in infants and children beyond the neonatal period. Both are associated with considerable morbidity and can be fatal if management is inadequate. However, it is possible to reduce mortality to a minimum with appropriate therapy. The term 'status asthmaticus' is not used in this review because...

The aim of this prospective study of a population of children (age, 2-15 years) hospitalized for severe asthma was to test them for acute infection due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae and acute infection due to Chlamydia pneumoniae. Of 119 patients with previously diagnosed asthma, acute M. pneumoniae infection was found in 24 (20%) and C. pneumoniae infection was found in 4 (3.4%) of the patients dur...

BACKGROUND Asthmatics in particular have a need for influenza vaccines because influenza infection is a frequent cause of hospitalization of patients with bronchial asthma. Currently, only inactivated influenza vaccines are recommended for influenza prevention in asthma sufferers. OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to analyze and compare the effects of influenza infection and vaccination with...

AIMS To investigate the hypothesis that circulating resistin reflects the degree of pulmonary inflammation, this study explores putative roles of resistin in patients with acute and stable inflammatory obstructive airway diseases and cigarette smokers. METHODS We determined complements C3, C4, fasting resistin, insulin, glucose and lipid profile; calculated insulin resistance (homeostasis mod...