What causes bronchiolitis?
Most cases of bronchiolitis are caused by viruses. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and parainfluenza virus being the most common ones. Less frequent are influenza, adenovirus, rhinoviruses, and measles virus. Rarely, the bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae can be the cause of bronchiolitis.2 After entering the lung, the virus causes the illness by damaging the lining of the bronchioles. The lining would then become inflamed and swollen, making the airways narrow and difficult for air to pass through. The consequence of this is air trapping in the lungs because the blocking of airflow is more significant during expiration (exhaling)2. Symptoms Bronchiolitis most often follows an ear infection, common cold, tonsillitis or a common cold. Its major symptoms appears acutely with increasing rate of breathing, increasing heart rate, wheezing, a hacking cough, and difficulty breathing. In severe cases, there may be cyanosis (becoming “blue” of the lips and/or tongue) because of a low oxygen l
