Controversies in the management of preschool viral wheeze

SummaryThe clinical diagnosis of asthma represents several putative wheeze phenotypes, each associated with a unique cluster of risk factors, underlying inflammation, and response to therapy. In school-age children, the ‘classical’ atopic asthma phenotype predominates. By contrast, asthma in children aged between 1 and 5 years is frequently characterised by transient episodes of wheeze trigged by viral colds, with few or no interval symptoms (preschool viral wheeze). This phenotype has a different cluster of risk factors from atopic asthma and thus might not respond to asthma therapies of proven efficacy in older children. The objective of this review is to look at the current evidence in the management of ‘preschool viral wheeze’.