Respiratory infections and wheezing in children

Thirty percent of infants will wheeze in the early years of life. Of these, two thirds of cases are due to structural characteristics, and the wheeze will cease with growth. One third of cases continue and manifest as childhood asthma. Another 10% of children develop asthma after the first few years of life. Viral infections may have a biphasic influence on asthma, with asthma and atopy more likely in the relative absence of early infections but with attacks commonly precipitated by these infections once asthma is present.