In 1982, Pullan and Hey reported the results of their follow-up of 130 children from two RSV seasons 10 yr after hospitalization for RSV LRTI (21); some children were also in the group studied at age 8 yr by Sims and colleagues (17, 18). No information about wheezing before the RSV infection was given. Compared with 111 controls recruited retrospectively, the RSV group had increased bronchial lability as measured by exercise and/or histamine challenge, and a significantly greater percentage of children in the RSV group had experienced episodes of wheezing, particularly during the first 4 yr of life (42 versus 19%, p 0.001). There was no betweengroup difference in family history of atopy. McConnochie and Roghmann retrospectively compared current wheezing among 59 children, 8 yr after bronchiolitis of undetermined etiology during infancy that had not required hospitalization and identified over four RSV seasons, with that among 177 matched control subjects (22). The results, published in 1984, demonstrated a significant difference between the groups (44.1 versus 13.6%, p 0.0001). In 1985, McConnochie and coworkers found that 25 children with mild bronchiolitis of undetermined etiology during infancy had normal lung function at ages 8 to 12 yr and no greater risk of abnormal lung function than that of randomly selected, matched control subjects (23).

In 1987, Carlsen and associates reported that 60% of 51 infants from two RSV seasons who had been hospitalized with acute bronchiolitis (31 had confirmed RSV infection) experienced three or more episodes of bronchopulmonary obstruction by age 2 yr, compared with 4.2% of 24 control children (24). No further follow-up was performed. Murray and colleagues performed long-term follow-up of 73 children from three RSV seasons who had been hospitalized with viral bronchiolitis (42 had confirmed RSV infection)(25). They reported in 1992 that, at age 6 yr, 42.5% of these children had wheezed during the preceding year, compared with 15.0% of 73 carefully matched control children who were retrospectively recruited at age 6 yr (p 0.001). Bronchial responsiveness to histamine was also significantly increased in the postbronchiolitis group. The two groups were similar with regard to a family history of atopy and the incidence of atopic dermatitis. In 1997, Noble and coworkers reported the results of their follow-up of the 61 remaining index children and the 47 remaining control subjects, at age 9 to 10 yr, from the Murray follow-up (26). Coughing and wheezing were significantly increased, FEV1 was significantly lower, and the response to histamine challenge was slightly (but not significantly) greater in the postbronchiolitis group than in the control subjects. Thirtythree percent of index cases and 3% of controls required bronchodilator therapy. The two groups remained similar with regard to a family history of atopy. Finally, in 1993, Osundwa and associates reported the results of a retrospective study of 70 children from two RSV seasons who had been hospitalized with RSV bronchiolitis during infancy, with follow-up at age 2 yr (27). Forty-four percent of the index cases developed recurrent wheezing, compared with 12.9% of 70 control subjects (p 0.001). The two groups were similar with regard to a family history of atopy. No further follow-up was reported.