Boeck K D
Dept of Paediatrics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.
Monaldi Arch Chest Dis. 1996 Jun;51(3):210-3.
Sixty to ninety percent of the clinical syndrome of bronchiolitis is caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. RSV epidemiology has several unusual characteristics. RSV infects nearly all infants in the first year of life, with a peak incidence of hospitalized infants with bronchiolitis between 2-6 months of age. It is the only virus that causes most severe disease during the first month of life, i.e. at a time when maternal antibodies are present. Lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV are limited to children younger than 3 yrs but symptomatic infection with RSV occurs throughout life. Infants with cardiac disease as well as infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia are especially prone to develop severe RSV bronchiolitis. Apnoea is a complication that occurs in infants younger than 3 months and after a history of apnoea of prematurity. Nosocomial infection is a major health problem. Hospital staff may spread the infection by becoming infected and shedding the virus, or by carrying contaminated secretions between patients. Classical teaching has been that the prevalence of wheeze is high after acute viral bronchiolitis in infancy, but recent data suggest that infants with already lower maximal expiratory flows at functional residual capacity are more prone to develop wheeze at the time of RSV bronchiolitis.
毛细支气管炎临床综合征的60%至90%由呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）感染引起。RSV流行病学有几个不寻常的特征。RSV几乎感染所有出生后第一年的婴儿，毛细支气管炎住院婴儿的发病率高峰在2至6个月龄之间。它是唯一在出生后第一个月即母体抗体存在时引起最严重疾病的病毒。RSV引起的下呼吸道感染仅限于3岁以下儿童，但RSV的症状性感染终生都会发生。患有心脏病的婴儿以及支气管肺发育不良的婴儿尤其容易发生严重的RSV毛细支气管炎。呼吸暂停是3个月以下婴儿以及有早产呼吸暂停病史的婴儿会出现的并发症。医院感染是一个主要的健康问题。医院工作人员可能通过自身感染并排出病毒，或在患者之间携带受污染的分泌物来传播感染。传统观点认为婴儿期急性病毒性毛细支气管炎后喘息的发生率很高，但最近的数据表明，在功能残气量时最大呼气流量已经较低的婴儿在患RSV毛细支气管炎时更容易出现喘息。
