Respiratory syncytial virus and asthma: untying the Gordian knot

Abstract

Asthma is a highly heritable disease; however, host environmental factors also influence variable susceptibility to disease development. One environmental exposure and asthma risk factor that has been the focus of decades of study is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A study of the hospital records of 100 children (76% of whom were infants) with bronchiolitis in the late 1950s first established a strong association between severe infection early in life and asthma, setting the stage for the association of RSV with asthma over the past 60 years to focus exclusively on RSV infections that are severe.