respiratory infections precede adult-onset asthma呼吸道感染之前成人哮喘.pdfVIP

Respiratory Infections Precede Adult-Onset Asthma 1 1 2 Aino Rantala , Jouni J. K. Jaakkola *, Maritta S. Jaakkola 1 Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 2 Respiratory Medicine Unit, Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland Abstract Background: Respiratory infections in early life are associated with an increased risk of developing asthma but there is little evidence on the role of infections for onset of asthma in adults. The objective of this study was to assess the relation of the occurrence of respiratory infections in the past 12 months to adult-onset asthma in a population-based incident case- control study of adults 21–63 years of age. Methods/PrincipalFindings: We recruited all new clinically diagnosed cases of asthma (n = 521) during a 2.5-year study period and randomly selected controls (n = 932) in a geographically defined area in South Finland. Information on respiratory infections was collected by a self-administered questionnaire. The diagnosis of asthma was based on symptoms and reversible airflow obstruction in lung function measurements. The risk of asthma onset was strongly increased in subjects who had experienced in the preceding 12 months lower respiratory tract infections (including acute bronchitis and pneumonia) with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) 7.18 (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.16–9.99), or upper respiratory tract infections (including common cold, sinusitis, tonsillitis, and otitis media) with an adjusted OR 2.26 (95% CI 1.72–2.9