ArticleThorax2006
Study of modifiable risk factors for asthma exacerbations: virus infection and allergen exposure increase the risk of asthma hospital admissions in children.
Article in Thorax, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 177 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
177 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 499 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of respiratory viruses in stable and acute asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Pooled it
- The Effect of Outdoor Environmental Exposure on Readmission Rates for Children and Adolescents with Asthma-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Interventions for autumn exacerbations of asthma in children.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Associations between environmental exposures and asthma control and exacerbations in young children: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2014Pooled it
- A letter intervention to GPs practices to promoting prescription uptake in school-age children with asthma during summer holidays (TRAINS study): a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2026Trial
- SQ House Dust Mite Sublingual Immunotherapy Tablet in Children With Allergic Asthma: A Randomised Phase III Trial.Allergy · 2025Trial
- Allergen Immunotherapy Enhances Airway Epithelial Antiviral Immunity in Patients with Allergic Asthma (VITAL Study): A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2023Trial
- Longitudinal trajectories of severe wheeze exacerbations from infancy to school age and their association with early-life risk factors and late asthma outcomes.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2020Trial
- Enhanced plasmacytoid dendritic cell antiviral responses after omalizumab.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2018Trial
- Trial
- High fractional exhaled nitric oxide and sputum eosinophils are associated with an increased risk of future virus-induced exacerbations: A prospective cohort study.Clinical and experimental allergy : journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2017Trial
- Preseasonal treatment with either omalizumab or an inhaled corticosteroid boost to prevent fall asthma exacerbations.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2015Trial
- Trial
- Factors associated with asthma exacerbations during a long-term clinical trial of controller medications in children.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2008Trial
- Childhood Environmental Exposures and Adult Disease.Pediatric pulmonology · 2026Review
- Cat exposure and asthma outcomes in a cohort of children with asthma and allergy.Frontiers in allergy · 2026Article
- Long-Term, Real-World Effectiveness of Allergen Immunotherapy in Children and Adolescents With Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma.Allergy · 2025Article
- Naturally derived bioactive compounds as regulators of oxidative stress and inflammation in asthma.Chinese medicine · 2025Review
- Sensitization Patterns to Aeroallergens and Food Allergens Among Children with Atopic Asthma in Southwestern Saudi Arabia.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- How Families Manage the Home Environment for Young People With Asthma and Allergic Sensitisation: A Qualitative Study.Pediatric pulmonology · 2025Article
117 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAsthma exacerbation is the most common cause of hospital admission in children. A study was undertaken to investigate the importance of allergen exposure in sensitised individuals in combination with viral infections and other potentially modifiable risk factors precipitating asthma hospital admission in children.
methodsEighty four children aged 3-17 years admitted to hospital over a 1 year period with an acute asthma exacerbation (AA) were matched for age and sex with two control groups: stable asthmatics (SA) and children admitted to hospital with non-respiratory conditions (IC). Risk factors were assessed by questionnaires and determination of allergen sensitisation, home allergen exposure, pollen exposure, and respiratory virus infection.
resultsSeveral non-modifiable factors (atopy, duration of asthma) were associated with increased risk. Among the modifiable factors, pet ownership, housing characteristics, and parental smoking did not differ between the groups. Regular inhaled corticosteroid treatment was significantly less common in the AA group than in the SA group (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1 to 0.6; p = 0.002). A significantly higher proportion of the AA group were virus infected (44%) and sensitised and highly exposed to sensitising allergen (76%) compared with the SA (18% and 48%) and IC groups (17% and 28%; both p<0.001). In a multiple conditional logistic regression (AA v SA), allergen sensitisation and exposure or virus detection alone were no longer independently associated with hospital admission. However, the combination of virus detection and sensitisation with high allergen exposure substantially increased the risk of admission to hospital (OR 19.4, 95% CI 3.7 to 101.5, p<0.001).
conclusionsNatural virus infection and real life allergen exposure in allergic asthmatic children increase the risk of hospital admission. Strategies for preventing exacerbations will need to address these factors.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.