ArticleAnnals of thoracic medicine
Prevalence of acute infection in adults with asthma exacerbation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Annals of thoracic medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 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
- Review
- Real-world effectiveness of antibiotics in addition to oral corticosteroids for managing asthma exacerbations in adults.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Article
- Viruses in bronchiectasis.ERJ open research · 2025Review
- Unraveling the mechanisms of virus-induced asthma exacerbation: epithelial injury, immune dysregulation, and novel interventions.Chinese medical journal pulmonary and critical care medicine · 2025Review
- The association between hemoglobin-to-red cell distribution width ratio and asthma and asthma exacerbations: a cross-sectional study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Hidden in plain sight: the impact of human rhinovirus infection in adults.Respiratory research · 2025Review
- Management of Asthma and COPD Exacerbations in Adults in the ICU.CHEST critical care · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAcute respiratory infections are a major trigger of asthma exacerbations. This study sought to estimate the overall proportion of viruses, atypical pathogens, and bacteria detected in adults with asthma exacerbations.
methodsPubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases and all related studies from the reviews and references were searched from inception to February 13, 2020. Two authors independently performed study selection, data extraction, as well as quality evaluation. Subsequently, meta-analysis, between-study heterogeneity, and publication bias assessment were conducted on RStudio.
resultsForty-three eligible studies comprising 3511 adults were included, of which 21 publications mentioned multiple infections during acute asthma attacks. Meta-analysis showed an acute infection prevalence of 40.19% (95% confidence interval [CI] 34.53%-45.99%). Viruses, atypical pathogens, and bacteria were detected in 38.76% (95% CI 32.02%-45.71%), 8.29% (95% CI 2.64%-16.27%), and 7.05% (95% CI 3.34%-11.81%) of asthmatics during exacerbations, respectively. Rhinovirus infections are always the dominant trigger for exacerbations with a proportion of 20.02% (95% CI 14.84%-25.73%). Substantial heterogeneity across studies (Cochran
conclusionThis meta-analysis provided the first quantitative epidemiological data for adults, and in the future, more research and health-care supports are necessary in this area.
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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.