Asthma-cold link sought

Press, 9 May 1984, Page 6

Asthma-cold link sought

Two Christchurch Hospital researchers are trying to establish a New Zealand link between child asthma and viruses that cause the common cold. Their year-long study, funded with the help of a 52899 grant from the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation, parallels overseas studies which have linked two viruses important in the common cold, rhinovirus and coronavirus, to child asthma. Dr Lance Jennings, a virologist, said the last decade had seen a “dramatic” increase in the number of children admitted with asthma to Christchurch Hospital. Yet little research had been done in New Zealand on respiratory viruses as a trigger for asthma attacks.

Last year he and a hospital pediatrician, Dr Kenneth Dawson, looked at a separate group of 315 children admitted with acute respiratory infections during the winter months of May to November. Viruses were identified in more than half the cases, mostly respiratory syncytial viruses and influenza. “What we want to do this year is extend it a bit further and look at the problem of viruses in triggering acute asthma attacks,” Dr Jennings said. Spring and autumn were the peak times for the hospital admissions of children with asthma. The researchers hope laboratory testing will show what particular virus, if any, is associated with those peaks.