Methodology :
Written informed consent taken from the parents of the study population. Ethical committee clearance obtained from institutional ethical committee.
Patients with coryza, fever, cough and wheeze are classified as bronchiolitis clinically.
Chest x ray, CBC taken. Blood for serum IgE is measured by electro chemi luminescence immunoassay.
Normal value : 0-1 years 0-15 IU/ml
1-5 years 0-60 IU/ ml
Eosinophil count is performed with diluting whole blood with a staining solution. The Phloxine B present in the diluting fluid stains only eosinophils red. All other leucocytes are preserved but not stained. The diluting specimen is charged onto a hemo cytometer for counting. Using low power objective, the eosinophils appear bright orange red and clearly distinguishable from neutrophils, basophils, lymphocytes and monocytes which do not stain. <350 cells / micro litre considered normal.
Throat swab for RSV antigen is taken from posterior pharyngeal wall and transported to the lab through viral transport medium using cold chain and is measured by PCR.
These patients are followed for a period of 1 year to find out the proportion of occurrence of wheeze in IgE positive patients.