Most people have not heard of this exact word in developing countries. The word "bronchiolitis" means inflammation of the BRONCHIOLES. What are bronchioles? These are the smallest size airways in our lungs. They lead out from bigger airways known as bronchi and end into our air-sacs or what we call the ALVEOLI, where the crucial gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place thousands of times in a day, and throughout our life.
Because infants have small bodies and small lungs, they also have very small bronchioles. These bronchioles catch infection with viruses very easily, and when they do, they get swollen, their internal diameter gets smaller, and their ability to allow effective gas exchange to take place gets reduced dramatically.
When this happens, the baby becomes short of breath, as he/she can no longer breathe in and out without effort to push open the bronchioles with each breath. The breathing rate goes up, the baby works hard, and soon, he/she becomes tired. This chain of events is known as acute bronchiolitis. While usually a self-limiting condition, infants with this problem can sometimes become really sick and need hospitalisation. We will come to that a little later.
Acute bronchiolitis is an illness most commonly seen during the coldest months of the year. It begins with a simple cold - a runny nose, sniffles, a mild cough and perhaps a bit of a temperature. Over the next few days, the virus descends downwards from the upper airways into the lungs. When it reaches the smallest airways or the bronchioles, it produces inflammation - swelling and secretions in the tubes. This is when the child begins to be short of breath. He/she breathes more rapidly. At this stage, the illness can either remain static, and the child will have the breathing difficulty but not look very sick; or, it can become progressively more severe, and the child may become so breathless as to be unable to feed, sleep or look well. The severity may be such as to make the child's carers reach out to the doctors, with a visit to the hospital in the more serious ones.
As this is a viral illness, and most of the times resolves by itself, doctors attending to infants and small children with acute bronchiolitis don't usually admit the child unless his/her blood oxygen levels are falling or the child is getting progressively more and more tired. Once admitted, such infants are treated with oxygen and nutritional support. Little else is helpful or needed/ Some infants may be given additional forms of treatment with medicines that open up their airways and make them breathe more easily. However, this is an exception and not the norm.
Once the breathing difficulty is under control, infants and small children with acute bronchiolitis are ready to go home. Some of them will need medicinal support for slightly longer. A few of the infants who recover from their first attack might develop recurrences of a similar attack repeatedly. A very small percentage of such repeat-afflicted ones may develop an asthma-like chronic problem.
To summarise: Acute bronchiolitis is a frequent problem characterised by a breathing difficulty with a self-resolving natural course. Caused by viruses, it is not an illness that usually causes much distress or loss of productivity on the part of parents. Treatment is directed at maintaining the oxygenation and hydration of the affected child and allow him/her to recover on their own.
Because infants have small bodies and small lungs, they also have very small bronchioles. These bronchioles catch infection with viruses very easily, and when they do, they get swollen, their internal diameter gets smaller, and their ability to allow effective gas exchange to take place gets reduced dramatically.
When this happens, the baby becomes short of breath, as he/she can no longer breathe in and out without effort to push open the bronchioles with each breath. The breathing rate goes up, the baby works hard, and soon, he/she becomes tired. This chain of events is known as acute bronchiolitis. While usually a self-limiting condition, infants with this problem can sometimes become really sick and need hospitalisation. We will come to that a little later.
Acute bronchiolitis is an illness most commonly seen during the coldest months of the year. It begins with a simple cold - a runny nose, sniffles, a mild cough and perhaps a bit of a temperature. Over the next few days, the virus descends downwards from the upper airways into the lungs. When it reaches the smallest airways or the bronchioles, it produces inflammation - swelling and secretions in the tubes. This is when the child begins to be short of breath. He/she breathes more rapidly. At this stage, the illness can either remain static, and the child will have the breathing difficulty but not look very sick; or, it can become progressively more severe, and the child may become so breathless as to be unable to feed, sleep or look well. The severity may be such as to make the child's carers reach out to the doctors, with a visit to the hospital in the more serious ones.
As this is a viral illness, and most of the times resolves by itself, doctors attending to infants and small children with acute bronchiolitis don't usually admit the child unless his/her blood oxygen levels are falling or the child is getting progressively more and more tired. Once admitted, such infants are treated with oxygen and nutritional support. Little else is helpful or needed/ Some infants may be given additional forms of treatment with medicines that open up their airways and make them breathe more easily. However, this is an exception and not the norm.
Once the breathing difficulty is under control, infants and small children with acute bronchiolitis are ready to go home. Some of them will need medicinal support for slightly longer. A few of the infants who recover from their first attack might develop recurrences of a similar attack repeatedly. A very small percentage of such repeat-afflicted ones may develop an asthma-like chronic problem.
To summarise: Acute bronchiolitis is a frequent problem characterised by a breathing difficulty with a self-resolving natural course. Caused by viruses, it is not an illness that usually causes much distress or loss of productivity on the part of parents. Treatment is directed at maintaining the oxygenation and hydration of the affected child and allow him/her to recover on their own.
