RESUMO
This study was carried on 40 infants [with age range from 6 - 20 months] suffering from wheezy chest [group 1] to evaluate some risky factors as predictive parameters for developing future asthma in these infants and to assess the value of two different lines of treatment. Twenty apparently normal infants were included in the study as control group [group 2]. Results showed that serum IgE was significantly high in group 1 before treatment [p < 0.05], IgG and complement fraction [C1q] showed no significant difference from the control [P > 0.05]. Absolute Eosinophilic Count [ABE] and Migration Inhibition Factor [MIF] were significantly high in group 1 [P < 0.05]. Treatment with Sodium Chromoglycate improved the condition better than treatment with Dexamthasone, however total IgE, ABE count and MIF were still higher in patients than normal even after one year follow up. These results suggest that risky factors are useful parameters for assessing wheezy infants and have a predictive value for developing future asthma. Unresponsiveness to treatment could be attributed to genetic factors or other positive family history