Ruotsalainen M, Heikkilä P, Backman K, et al. - This controlled questionnaire study demonstrated that in young adults, early childhood hospitalization for lower respiratory infection with wheezing was an independently significant risk factor of asthma.

• Questionnaires were sent to 95 subjects aged 24-28 years, who had been hospitalized for their first episodes of wheezing under 24 months of age in this prospective controlled follow-up.

• In this study, 58 cases and 100 controls returned the questionnaires.

• The results showed that the risk of doctor-diagnosed asthma was 2.14-fold (95% confidence interval 0.61-7.41) and the risk of self-reported asthma 2.39-fold (1.14-4.99) in cases compared to controls.

• The findings revealed that elevated risk of self-reported asthma remained statistically significant in analyses adjusted for current smoking, overweight and allergic rhinitis.

• As per the results, study individuals presented with wheezing symptoms, use of bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids, and seasonal symptoms presumptive for allergic rhinitis during the last 12 months, more often than controls.

• During hospitalization, the identification of respiratory syncytial virus or rhinovirus in early childhood was not anymore correlated with asthma risk in adulthood.

• As expected, in young adulthood, previous asthma during early childhood was a strong risk factor for asthma.