Viruses and Asthma
- Sunday, September 20, 2009, 8:59
- Asthma
- 677 views
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- TURNER:
- Okay. Walter from Bellevue joins us now. Hi Walter.
- WALTER:
- Yes. Hi.
- TURNER:
- What’s the issue with asthma you’d like to discuss?
- WALTER:
- Well, there are reports that most people think of viruses, especially the virus called chlamydia, as a sexually transmitted virus, but there is an airborne virus also by the same name. And, I have read reports that that virus as well as possibly other viruses can either worsen asthma or in some cases, cause it, perhaps?
- TURNER:
- Okay. Well, let’s start with Dr. Stempel. See what he has to say.
- STEMPEL:
- Okay. Chlamydia is not actually a virus, but it’s another group of infectious agents that’s not a bacteria, not a virus, so it sort of slides in between those two terms. And the other one that can also be involved is mycoplasma. And it was thought at first that chlamydia maybe caused wheeziness in young children, but over the last decade or so, research has found that chlamydia might actually be a cause of wheeziness or increased wheeziness in adults. We have an understanding that flu virus maybe is the first infection that actually starts asthma in adults. So chlamydia, mycoplasma, and common cold viruses at least right now, viruses like are what are called rhinovirus, these are common cold viruses, common cold infections that can make asthma worse.
- WALTER:
- That can make it worse. That was my experience, doctor. I had a relatively mild form of asthma and then I got a really bad flu that lasted, you know, one of those that you can’t get rid of for like a month. Finally, it slowly went away and I found that my asthma was much worse from thereafter.
- STEMPEL:
- Yeah. I mean, that’s not an uncommon experience. And I think that once you start wheezing it’s important to get in touch with your physician and to say is it time to step up with some of the medications like being on inhaled corticosteroids. We don’t really have strong evidence, but the thought is that maybe if you start inhaled corticosteroids earlier on or increased the dose if you’re already on it during the beginning of a respiratory infection you might actually be able to shorten the recovery phase.
- WALTER:
- Uh-huh.
- TURNER:
- Okay, Walter?
- WALTER:
- All right.
- TURNER:
- Well thanks for your question.
- WALTER:
- Well, I greatly appreciate the opportunity.
- TURNER:
- You betcha. Our pleasure.
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