[About the incidence of chronic airway diseases in infants and children (author's transl)].

Based on the experiences with 1,500 infants and children, hospitalized during a five-year period, who had undergone clinical, routine laboratory, immunological bacteriological, allergological, X-ray, oto-rhino-laryngological, spirometrical and bronchological examinations performed by unchanging teams using the same methods and instruments, it was found that the cause of respiratory diseases in a comparatively high number of patients were developmental anomalies, that it is important to look for tracheal stenoses, that there is chronic bronchitis in infants and children, that sinusitis maxillaris or shortage of immunoglobulins are relatively rare, and that selective bacteriological cultures are not very often positive. These results emphasize the importance of carefully differentiating between the various forms of respiratory diseases in infants and children.