Background

Viral wheezing is an important risk factor for asthma, which comprises several respiratory phenotypes. We sought to understand if the etiology of early-life wheezing illnesses relates to childhood respiratory and asthma phenotypes.

Methods

Data were collected prospectively on 429 children in the Urban Environment and Childhood Asthma (URECA) birth cohort study through age 10 years. We identified wheezing illnesses and the corresponding viral etiology (PCR testing of nasal mucus) during the first 3 years of life. Six phenotypes of respiratory health were identified at 10 years of age based on trajectories of wheezing, allergic sensitization, and lung function. We compared the etiology of early wheezing illnesses to these wheezing respiratory phenotypes and the development of asthma.

Results

In the first 3 years of life, at least one virus was detected in 324 (67%) of the 483 wheezing episodes documented in the study cohort. Using hierarchical partitioning we found that non-viral wheezing episodes accounted for the greatest variance in asthma diagnosed at both 7 and 10 years of age (8.0% and 5.8% respectively). Rhinovirus wheezing illnesses explained the most variance in respiratory phenotype outcome followed by non-viral wheezing episodes (4.9% and 3.9% respectively) at 10 years of age.

Conclusion and relevance

Within this high-risk urban-residing cohort in early life, non-viral wheezing episodes were frequently identified and associated with asthma development. Though rhinovirus wheezing illnesses had the greatest association with phenotype outcome, the specific etiology of wheezing episodes in early life provided limited information about subsequent wheezing phenotypes.