Acute respiratory infection in an infant

A study of the episodes of acute respiratory infection (ARI) that occurred in a paediatrician's daughter during infancy; revealed 11 episodes with an average duration of 8.7 days (range: 3-18 days). In nine of the episodes; family members experienced ARI which preceded that of the infant by a mean of four days (range: two-seven days). Relevant factors to this ARI experience included family size; number of siblings at school and household irritants. Most of the ARI episodes in the infant required only liberal intake of oral fluids; breast feeding and nasal toiletting