PATIENTS HAVE COMPLAINED
FOR YEARS that colds make their asthma worse. Today researchers
have documented that viral infections are associated with about
85 percent of asthma attacks in children and many in adults as
well. In contrast, new research suggests that some viruses may
actually protect children from developing asthma in the first
place by changing the immune system's response so that IgE antibodies
are not produced. Researchers are working to understand exactly
what role respiratory infections play in asthma. treatments for
individual patients.