Bronchiolitis
Blockage of the small airways in the lungs due to a viral infection / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. Acute bronchiolitis is due to a viral infection usually affecting children younger than two years of age.[5] Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, wheezing, and breathing problems.[1] More severe cases may be associated with nasal flaring, grunting, or the skin between the ribs pulling in with breathing.[1] If the child has not been able to feed properly, signs of dehydration may be present.[1]
Bronchiolitis | |
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An X-ray of a child with RSV showing the typical bilateral perihilar fullness of bronchiolitis. | |
Specialty | Emergency medicine, pediatrics |
Symptoms | Fever, cough, runny nose, wheezing, breathing problems[1] |
Complications | Shortness of breath, dehydration[1] |
Usual onset | Less than 2 years old[2] |
Causes | Viral disease (respiratory syncytial virus, human rhinovirus)[2] |
Diagnostic method | Based on symptoms[1] |
Differential diagnosis | Asthma, pneumonia, heart failure, allergic reaction, cystic fibrosis[1] |
Treatment | Symptomatic treatment (oxygen, support with feeding, intravenous fluids)[3] |
Frequency | ~20% (children less than 2)[2][1] |
Deaths | 1% (among those hospitalized)[4] |
Chronic bronchiolitis is the general term used for small airways disease in adults, notably in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.[5][6]
Acute bronchiolitis is usually the result of infection by respiratory syncytial virus (72% of cases) or human rhinovirus (26% of cases).[2] Diagnosis is generally based on symptoms.[1] Tests such as a chest X-ray or viral testing are not routinely needed.[2]
There is no specific treatment.[3][7] Symptomatic treatment at home is generally sufficient.[1] Occasionally, hospital admission for oxygen, support with feeding, or intravenous fluids is required.[1] Tentative evidence supports nebulized hypertonic saline.[8][needs update] Evidence for antibiotics, antivirals, bronchodilators, or nebulized epinephrine is either unclear or not supportive.[9]
About 10% to 30% of children under the age of two years are affected by bronchiolitis at some point in time.[1][2] It commonly occurs in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere.[1] It is the leading cause of hospitalizations in those less than one year of age in the United States.[10][7] The risk of death among those who are admitted to hospital is about 1%.[4] Outbreaks of the condition were first described in the 1940s.[11]