Children with severe bronchiolitis often develop asthma, but we do not understand the link between these two common conditions. The WIND study is the largest, federally-funded study seeking answers to this question.

While several studies have shown that almost half of children hospitalized with severe bronchiolitis will go on to develop doctor-diagnosed asthma, we still do not know how to predict which ones. Study staff at 17 different hospitals across the nation are enrolling children hospitalized with bronchiolitis and closely following them for the possible development of breathing problems. In the end, the goal is to be able to identify children at higher — and lower — risk for future wheezing and asthma.

The “WIND” in WIND study is short for “Wheezing INDex.” With the information you and your child provide, we hope to develop a tool (WIND) that health care providers can use to predict which children are at greater risk for asthma, and to improve the care for millions of children with respiratory problems.

The WIND study is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is coordinated by the Emergency Medicine Network (EMNet).