RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS SEROLOGY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENT WITH ASTHMA

SUMMARY Several studies have shown that severe RSV infection during infancy is a risk factor for development of asthma later in childhood. However, littles known of the association between subclinical RSV infection and asthma. We investigated the relationship between anti-RSV seropositivity and asthma in a group of children and adolescents. The study population consisted of 41 children and adolescents aged 6 to 14 years with asthma and 39 age and sex matched healthy controls followed in the pediatric outpatient clinics of Mersin University, Faculty of Medicine, between January 1999 and July 2000. Anti-RSV IgG antibody were determined with ELISA. Anti-RSV seropositivity was significantly higher in the asthma group when compared to the control group (p<0.05). RSV IgG seropositivity was found as an important risk factor for asthma (OR: 12.2, %95 C11.4 -101). Our results suggest that RSV infection even when subclinical is a risk factor for the development of asthma. Key Words: Asthma, respiratory syncytial virus OZET ASTIMLI COCUK VE ADOLESANLARDA RESPIRATUAR SINSITYAL VIRUS SEROLOJISI Cocukluk caginda gecirilen respiratuar sinsityal virus infeksiyonunun (RSV) ileride astim gelisimi icin risk olusturdugu bircok calismada gosterilmistir. Bununla birlikte subklinik RSV infeksiyonunu ve astim arasindaki iliski tam bilinmemektedir. Biz calismamizda cocuk ve adolesanlarda anti-RSV seropozitifligi ile astim arasindaki iliskiyi arastirdik. Calismamiza Mersin Universitesi Tip Fakultesi'ne Ocak 1999 ile Temmuz 2000 tarihleri arasinda ayaktan basvuran 6-14 yas arasi 41 astimli cocuk ve adolesan ile 39 saglikli kontrol grubu alindi. Eliza yontemi kullanilarak RSV IgG antikorlari saptandi. Anti-RSV seropozitifligi kontrol grubu ile karsilastirildiginda astim grubunda anlamli derecede yuksek bulundu (p<0.05). RSV IgG seropozitifligi astim gelisiminde onemli bir risk faktoru olarak bulundu (OR:12.2, %95 C11.4-101). Sonuclarimiz RSV infeksiyonunun subklinik olarak gecirilse bile astim gelisimi icin risk faktoru oldugunu gostermistir. Anahtar kelimeler: Astim, respiratuar sinsityal virus