@article{3128523,
    title = "Asthma. A Chronic Infectious Disease?",
    author = "Caramori, G. and Papadopoulos, N. and Contoli, M. and Marku, B. and Forini, G. and Pauletti, A. and Johnston, S.L. and Papi, A.",
    journal = "Clinics in Chest Medicine",
    year = "2012",
    volume = "33",
    number = "3",
    pages = "473-484",
    issn = "0272-5231",
    doi = "10.1016/j.ccm.2012.06.009",
    keywords = "antibiotic agent;  azithromycin;  budesonide;  clarithromycin;  corticosteroid;  fluticasone;  glucocorticoid;  macrolide;  roxithromycin;  salmeterol;  telithromycin;  tetracycline, asthma;  bacterial infection;  bacterial pneumonia;  causal attribution;  chlamydial pneumonia;  clinical effectiveness;  disease association;  disease control;  disease course;  dose response;  drug effect;  drug efficacy;  environmental exposure;  evidence based medicine;  human;  hygiene;  immunoreactivity;  infection sensitivity;  low drug dose;  microflora;  mild persistent asthma;  moderate persistent asthma;  Mycoplasma pneumonia;  nonhuman;  priority journal;  review;  risk assessment;  severe persistent asthma;  treatment duration;  viral respiratory tract infection;  virus replication, Asthma;  Chronic Disease;  Humans;  Respiratory Tract Infections",
    abstract = "There are increasing data to support the "hygiene" and "microbiota" hypotheses of a protective role of infections in modulating the risk of subsequent development of asthma. There is less evidence that respiratory infections can actually cause the development of asthma. There is some evidence that rhinovirus respiratory infections are associated with the development of asthma, particularly in childhood, whereas these infections in later life seem to have a weaker association with the development of asthma. The role of bacterial infections in chronic asthma remains unclear. This article reviews the available evidence indicating that asthma may be considered as a chronic infectious disease. © 2012 Elsevier Inc."
}