Role of viral infections in exacerbations of asthma

BMJ 1995;311:629 (2 September)

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Role of viral infections in exacerbations of asthma

Study supports results of audit by General Practitioners inAsthma Group

EDITOR,--Sebastian L Johnston and colleagues¹ highlight whatpatients with asthma have been saying for years: that asthmagets worse with colds. The General Practitioners in Asthma Groupcarried out its second national audit of attacks of asthma andlooked at 2332 attacks in patients of all ages. Factors thatprecipitated or preceded an attack were upper respiratory tractinfection (1511 attacks), non-compliance with preventive treatment(151), "stress" (113), and allergy (103). This supports theview that upper respiratory tract infection is the dominantprecipitating factor in asthma and deserves more attention.

Senior lecturer in general practice Project coordinator Researchsecretary Westgate Health Centre, Dundee DD2 4AD

Consultant chest physician King's Cross Hospital, Dundee DD38EA

Ron Neville, Gaylor Hoskins, Barbara Smith, Roland Clark

Johnston SL, Pattemore PK, Sanderson G, Smith S, Lampe F, Josephs L, et al. Community study of role of viral . . . [Full text of this article]

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Community study of role of viral infections in exacerbations of asthma in 9-11 year old children: Sebastian L Johnston, Philip K Pattemore, Gwendolyn Sanderson, Sandra Smith, Fiona Lampe, Lynn Josephs, Penny Symington, Susan O'Toole, Steven H Myint, David A J Tyrrell, and Stephen T Holgate
BMJ 1995 310: 1225-1229. [Abstract] [Full Text]