Asthma in Children

In a previous study on the etiology of asthma,1the subject matter of this communication was scarcely touched on because it was considered of sufficient clinical importance to warrant special attention. The rôle played by intercurrent infections and other diseases peculiar to childhood in initiating the onset or altering the course of asthma has been insufficiently considered until recently. Reference to the occurrence of asthma or "asthmatic bronchitis" as a possible complication or sequel of measles, pertussis, scarlet fever and other diseases of childhood or after tonsillectomy is rare in the standard textbooks on pediatrics. In the literature a few observations have been recorded which suggest a direct relationship between these diseases and asthma. Lucas2found a number of cases of asthma which gave a history of chronic bronchitis following pertussis. Licciardi3describes typical attacks of asthma occurring for the first time during measles. Kammerer4found