Colds trigger asthma

‘Tis the season for colds and, if you have asthma, a runny nose and watery eyes could signal some serious breathing problems around the corner.

About 85 percent of severe asthma attacks are triggered by a viral respiratory infection. “Respiratory infections are the number one reason patients get attacks of asthma, wind up in the emergency room and are hospitalized,” says William W. Busse, professor of medicine and head of the allergy and immunology section at the UW Medical School.

Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Busse and his research team a new $1.4 million grant to determine how respiratory viruses trigger the development of asthma or cause people who already have the disease to wheeze and cough.

Busse’s team will focus on the common cold virus, officially called the rhinovirus, because this virus has been shown to be associated with worsening of asthma. Researchers will study how, after entering the nose, the rhinovirus sets up a chain of events that cause certain cells to travel to the airway and produce an inflammatory response. This increase in inflammation in turn causes asthma sufferers to wheeze and cough. Unfortunately, this problem can persist for weeks.

“If we can find out the mechanisms of how the common cold worsens asthma, then we have an opportunity to design more specific treatments,” says Busse. “This is particularly important because the usual medications for asthma do not seem to protect people from the effects of the virus on their asthma. Hopefully, with new information, a better treatment can be developed.”