Acute obstructive bronchitis in children

Acute obstructive bronchitis in children is a disease that occurs with the syndrome of bronchial obstruction, i.e. with expiratory dyspnea (it is difficult for a child to breathe in air). According to different authors, 20-25% of acute obstructive bronchitis in children occur with the phenomena of obstruction and dyspnea. The terms obstructive bronchitis and bronchiolitis speak about one form of bronchitis, which has clinical differences. Acute obstructive bronchitis is more common in children of the first 3 years of life, whose bronchial inflammation is caused by the PC virus, influenza type C, adenoviruses, cytomegalovirus. Other viruses cause no more than 20% of cases. Mycoplasmal and chlamydial infections also play a role in older children in the development of obstructive bronchitis.

The main mechanisms of obstructive syndrome are the following: congestion of sputum in the lumen, thickening of all the walls (mucosa, submucosa, basal membrane), reduction of bronchial muscles and compression of the respiratory tract. Obstruction of the respiratory tract with acute obstructive bronchitis in children is predetermined by narrowing of the respiratory tract due to edema of the mucous membrane, and to a lesser extent bronchospasm.

Obstructive bronchitis in children can be caused by a variety of causes. Invasion of the viral agent causes damage to the bronchial mucosa, the occurrence of inflammatory infiltration. Cellular composition of inflammatory infiltration includes plasma cells, monocytes, neutrophils and macrophages (the latter participate in the lysis of mast cell granules), eosinophils that destroy histamine, and a slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis.