An acute viral infection of the lungs, mainly affecting babies and young children, in which the bronchioles (the smaller airways branching off from the bronchi in the lungs) become inflamed. The most common cause is the respiratory syncytial virus (MSV).
Symptoms include rapid breathing, a cough, and fever. Sometimes no treatment is necessary but, in more severe cases, hospital admission is needed so that oxygen therapy and physiotherapy (to clear the mucus) can be given. With prompt treatment, sufferers usually recover within a few days. Antibiotic drugs may be prescribed to prevent any secondary bacterial infection.
The name sometimes applied to bronchitis affecting the ?nest bronchial tubes, also known as capillary bronchitis. Major epidemics occur every winter in Northern Europe in babies under 18 months due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Many are admitted to hospital; some need arti?cial ventilation for a time and a very small number die.
n. inflammation of the small airways in the lungs (the *bronchioles) due to viral infection, usually the *respiratory syncytial virus. Bronchiolitis occurs in epidemics and is commonest in infants of less than one year. The bronchioles become swollen, the lining cells die, and the tubes become blocked with debris and mucopus. This prevents air reaching the alveoli and the child becomes short of oxygen (hypoxic) and breathless. In mild cases no treatment is necessary; more severe cases require supportive treatment – administration of oxygen and feeding via a nasogastric tube. Antibiotics are indicated only if there is evidence of a secondary infection. If the child is particularly vulnerable, specific treatment with *ribavirin or artificial ventilation may be beneficial. Recurrent attacks of bronchiolitis may herald the onset of *asthma.
(BOOP) a disease entity characterized clinically by a flulike illness with cough, fever, shortness of breath, and late inspiratory crackles; there are specific histological features and patchy infiltrates on X-ray. It is sometimes the result of a viral infection, but may follow medication with certain drugs or be associated with connective-tissue disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis. The condition usually responds to oral corticosteroids; however, if a drug is implicated, it must be withdrawn.... bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia
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