What Is Allergic Bronchitis?

Allergic bronchitis and cough variant asthma are very similar diseases, also known as allergic cough. Allergic bronchitis is also known as the pre-bronchial asthma stage, which mostly occurs in children aged 1 to 6 and 7 years old, and it is mostly boys. The incidence of this disease is similar to bronchial asthma, but it is about twice that of bronchial asthma in air-polluted areas.

Chinese name: Allergic bronchitis

Foreign name: allergic bronchiolitis
Department: Respiratory

Overview of allergic bronchitis :

About 10% of the children are associated with respiratory virus infection, and 40% of children have secondary bacterial infections. The clinical characteristics of the disease: (1) susceptible to colds, with an average of more than 7 colds per year; (2) recurrent bronchitis or persistent bronchitis, sometimes for more than 1 month per attack; (3) may have Long-term spasm, easily misdiagnosed as pertussis or atypical pneumonia; (4) nasal secretions or sputum increased eosinophils.

Causes of allergic bronchitis :

The cause of allergic bronchitis is mainly due to the patient's exposure to allergens in daily life, such as irritating odors, allergens, pollen, etc., and thus induce bronchitis. The onset of bronchitis is due to the patient's immune dysfunction, and children with poor physical fitness and poor resistance are prone to infection and allergies, which induces bronchitis.

Clinical manifestations of allergic bronchitis :

Allergic bronchitis is caused by bronchial inflammation caused by the patient's exposure to allergens as upper respiratory infections, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, and hoarseness. The clinical symptom of allergic bronchitis is cough, and the clinical manifestation is a long-term, refractory cough. After prolonged medication, the condition does not improve.

Clinical diagnosis of allergic bronchitis :

Ask the patient's history in detail to determine the cause of the patient's disease. According to the patient's cough lasting or recurring for more than 1 month, often accompanied by night or early-onset cough, less sputum, and exacerbation after exercise; antibiotics or symptomatic treatment is not effective for more than 2 weeks. Allergy treatment or bronchodilators are effective, and the diagnosis of allergic bronchitis can be confirmed.

Laboratory tests for allergic bronchitis :

1: Allergic bronchitis 1: analysis of induced sputum

Induced sputum is the sputum obtained by inducing a patient to inhale a hypertonic sodium chloride solution. By using induced sputum, cells in sputum can be classified and active substances such as eosinophil cationic proteins can be detected. Eosinophils are more easily detected in induced sputum and more sensitively reflect the allergic state than peripheral blood.

2:ECP Allergic bronchitis 2: peripheral blood eosinophils and ECP assay

Although the detection of eosinophils in sputum is more significant than that in peripheral blood, the detection of eosinophils in peripheral blood is more widely used because the induced sputum examination is more complicated.

ECP is a toxic protein released by eosinophils, and it is a sign of degranulation after eosinophils are activated. ECP concentration can be used as an important reference index to measure the severity of asthma and monitor the airway inflammation of asthma.

3: Allergic bronchitis 3: allergen skin test

The choice of skin test solution is usually based on clinical data, age, onset season, geographical and environmental factors. Commonly used allergens in the air, such as dust mites, pollen, cockroaches, fungi, pet fur, and other infusions; food allergens mostly use milk, eggs, shrimp, crab, and soybeans, peanuts and other allergens as skin test solution. Very important latex allergens should also be included. The skin test should be performed using a standardized skin test solution. Anti-histamines and glucocorticoids should be stopped for more than 72 hours before the skin test.

4: Allergic bronchitis 4: serum-specific detection

The detection of specific IgE occupies an important position in the in vitro diagnosis of allergic reactions and has been widely used. Compared with the allergen skin test, the serum specific IgE test has higher reliability. In addition, for the effects of drugs, skin sensitivity, etc. that cannot be performed on the skin test or the results of the skin test are not reliable, the serum specific IgE test can show Its advantages.

5: Allergic bronchitis 5: challenge test

The challenge test used for the diagnosis of allergic bronchitis is the bronchial challenge test. Divided into non-specific and specific according to the nature of the stimulant. The former uses methacholine or histamine as the stimulant, and the latter uses allergens. Non-specific bronchial provocation test can know whether the bronchus is highly responsive and is an important laboratory method for the diagnosis of asthma and allergic bronchitis; specific bronchial provocation test can determine the allergens causing asthma and allergic bronchitis .

Allergic bronchitis treatment:

After confirming the patient's condition, the patient's antibiotics and other drugs should be discontinued. At the same time, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, cough and phlegm treatment should be performed according to the patient's condition, and bronchodilators such as inhalation or oral 2 receptor stimulants, oral Theophylline or oral desloratadine drugs alleviate the clinical symptoms of patients. At the same time, patients should strengthen their immunity, avoid contact with allergens, and reduce their incidence.

In summary, for children who cannot be relieved by repeated antibiotics and phlegm relieving cough for a long time, it is necessary to fully consider the possibility of allergic bronchitis, and timely diagnosis and treatment of children is important for the physical recovery of children. Meaning.