Childhood severe acute respiratory syndrome, coronavirus infections and asthma.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a new infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus. Children appear to be less susceptible to the SARS coronavirus, although the other non-SARS coronaviruses can cause respiratory infections in adults and in children of all ages. The exact reasons as to why SARS preferentially affects adults, and not children, are still unknown. Many hypotheses exist and need to be explored. During the outbreak of SARS, there did not appear to be an increase in asthma exacerbations in children.