• Helen L Petsky, Jason P Acworth, Ronald Clark, Donna M Thearle, Ian B Masters, and Anne B Chang.
• Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children's Hospital, Queensland, Australia. helen_petsky@health.qld.gov.au
• J Paediatr Child Health. 2009 Jan 1; 45 (1-2): 42-7.

AimAcute respiratory infections (ARI) are common in children, and symptoms range from days to weeks. The aim of this study was to determine if children with asthma have more severe ARI episodes compared with children with protracted bronchitis and controls.MethodsParents prospectively scored their child's next ARI using the Canadian acute respiratory illness and flu scale (CARIFS) and a validated cough diary (on days 1-7, 10 and 14 of illness). Children were age- and season-matched.ResultsOn days 10 and 14 of illness, children with protracted bronchitis had significantly higher median CARIFS when compared with children with asthma and healthy controls. On day 14, the median CARIFS were: asthma = 4.1 (interquartile range (IQR) 4.0), protracted bronchitis = 19.6 (IQR 25.8) and controls = 4.1 (IQR 5.25). The median cough score was significantly different between groups on days 1, 7, 10 and 14 (P < 0.001). A significantly higher proportion of children with protracted bronchitis (63%) were still coughing at day 14 in comparison with children with asthma (24%) and healthy controls (26%).ConclusionChildren with protracted bronchitis had the most severe ARI symptoms and higher percentage of respiratory morbidity at day 14 in comparison with children with asthma and healthy controls.

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