BACKGROUND: Childhood asthma is most often characterized by recurrent wheezing,
airway hyperreactivity, and atopy; however, our understanding of these relationships from
early in life remains unclear. Respiratory tract illnesses and atopic sensitization early in life
might produce an interaction between innate and acquired immune responses, leading to
airway inflammation and heightened airway reactivity. OBJECTIVE: We hypothesized that
premorbid airway reactivity and immunologic characteristics of infants without prior episodes …