ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Pediatrica 2018 June;70(3):252-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0026-4946.16.04368-1

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Palivizumab prophylaxis, respiratory syncytial virus and subsequent development of asthma

Mahir IGDE ¹, Hilal KABASAKAL ², Onur OZTURK ³ ✉, Guner KARATEKIN ⁴, Canan AYGUN ⁵

¹ Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Samsun Education and Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey; ² Department of Pediatrics, Samsun Education and Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey; ³ Department of Family Medicine, Atakum Community Health Center, Samsun, Turkey; ⁴ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Zeynep Kamil Maternity and Children’s Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey; ⁵ Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a disease commonly encountered during childhood and it may relapse. An experience in the early childhood would induce asthma development in the future. Palivizumab has a proven efficacy for the RSV prophylaxis so it may prevent asthma. Our aim was to evaluate the possible protective effect of palivizumab on the development of asthma by using the modified Asthma Predictive Index (mAPI).
METHODS: This study’s data consist of 339 children between 2 to 5 years of age followed up in healthy children unit from 2008 to 2011. Cases were evaluated in terms of wheezing frequency and characteristic features. Evaluations were performed among three groups; palivizumab-treated children born preterm (group 1), palivizumab-untreated children born preterm (group 2) and term newborn children (group 3) with equal number of patients in each group (N.=113).
RESULTS: Frequency of the answers about children’s experienced wheezing times was significant between groups (P=0.003). A significant difference was found between the groups in terms of the clinician who diagnosed asthma (P=0.045). The groups were compared in terms of the mAPI positivity and a significant difference was found among the groups (P=0.001). Group 1 had lowest and group 3 had highest positivity. Group 1 and group 3 were different (P=0.000), group 2 was found higher than group 1, but was similar to group 3 (P=0.628).
CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the benefit of administration of palivizumab to premature children to reduce the risk of asthma development.

KEY WORDS: Palivizumab - Prevention and control - Asthma - Respiratory syncytial virus infections