Authors:
Sly PD, Chacko A, Holt PG.
Authors notes:
Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences: Elsevier; 2015.
Keywords:
Allergic sensitization, Ambient air pollution, Asthma exacerbation, Asthma induction, Childhood asthma, Epigentics, Genetic , susceptibility, Immune system
Abstract:
Childhood asthma is a condition characterized by airflow obstruction that varies in time spontaneously, in response to various environmental stimuli and in response to treatment.
Asthma is more common in childhood than in adulthood and is more correctly thought of as a syndrome than as a discrete condition.
A number of epidemiologically-distinct phenotypes are recognizable in childhood; however, these are best defined from longitudinal cohort studies and are of limited clinical use.
The most commonly recognized phenotypes are: transient infantile wheeze, where children have recurrent wheeze during the first three years of life but rarely afterwards; viral-associated wheeze, where children typically have episodic wheeze associated with respiratory viral infections and may not wheeze at other times; and atopic asthma, where children have wheeze associated with allergic sensitization to aeroallergens and frequently have features of other atopic diseases such as atopic dermatitis and allergic rhino-conjunctivitis.