How many people does it affect premature bronquiolitis?

Up to 70% of all children will catch bronchiolitis during their first year of life, however only 22% develop symptoms. Of these, approximately 13% develop acute bronchiolitis in their first year of life.    

Every year in Spain, there are around 100,000 cases of bronchiolitis in children under two. Mortality is generally low when the child is otherwise healthy. The overall mortality rate in children hospitalised for RSV bronchiolitis is less than 2%.  

2-5% of children require admission for acute bronchiolitis in their first year of life. Up to 20% of patients may need to be admitted to the paediatric ICU.  

Symptoms usually persist for 12 days (although some patients may still have symptoms at 28 days) but respiratory distress and feeding difficulties usually last for 6-7 days.  

There are usually bronchiolitis epidemics during winter and early spring, similar to seasonal influenza.