77 Recurrent Wheezing in Infancy: Epidemiological Changes Between EISL Phase i and iii

BACKGROUND: Prevalence of allergic diseases has increased in the last years. Data on recurrent wheezing (≥3 episodes) in infancy is scarce. The aim of this study was to verify changing in prevalence of recurrent wheezing infants in the south of Brazil. METHODS: Cross-sectional study using a standardized and validated questionnaire (EISL: Estudio Internacional sobre Sibilancias en Lactantes) with questions: Has your baby had wheezing or whistling in the chest area or bronchitis in the first 12 months of life? Has your baby had 3 or more wheezing episodes in the first year of life? Parents of infants, ages 12 to 15 months that attended to Health Centers for routine immunization were interviewed between August 2005 to December 2006 (EISL Phase I) and September 2009 to September 2010 (EISL Phase III). Categorical variables are shown as proportion and differences verified by chi-square test, and continuous variables were expressed as mean ± SD and analyzed by Student t test. RESULTS: Three thousand three parents of infants answered questionnaire in the EISL Phase I, and 45.4% had had at least one wheezing episode; 50.7% were male, and 22.6% had recurrent wheezing episode starting at 5.5 ± 3.1 months. Five years later, in the EISL Phase III, 1003 parents participated in the survey: 40.6% had at least one wheezing episode (P = 0.46), 51.1% were male, and 19.8% had recurrent wheezing (P = 0.1) starting at 6.1 ± 3 months (P = 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent wheezing in infancy is highly prevalent and starts early in life. In our population, recurrent wheezing rates did not modify in the time period of study.