Clinical, Immunological, and Environmental Determinants of Pediatric Respiratory Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Long-Term Health Outcomes
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Pediatrics, Mansarovar Medical College, Sehore, IND
- 2Department of Pediatrics, VV Giri University, Siwan, IND
- 3Department of Pediatrics, Subharti Medical College, Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, IND
- 4Department of Neuro Physiotherapy, Datta Meghe College of Physiotherapy, Nagpur, IND
- 5Department of Radiodiagnosis, Santosh Medical College, Santosh Deemed to be University, Ghaziabad, IND
- 6Department of Botany, P.K. University, Shivpuri, IND
Abstract
Pediatric respiratory disorders remain a major source of childhood morbidity, healthcare utilization, impaired quality of life, and long-term pulmonary vulnerability. The background of this review centers on the complex interaction between early-life clinical susceptibility, immune maturation, environmental exposure, respiratory infections, and social determinants in shaping pediatric airway health. The objective was to synthesize evidence on clinical, immunological, infectious, environmental, and social determinants relevant to pediatric asthma, recurrent wheeze, and associated long-term respiratory outcomes, including disease persistence, impaired lung-function trajectories, and later respiratory vulnerability. The methodology involved a structured literature search of studies published from 2015 to 2025 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar, including observational studies, clinical studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and high-quality narrative reviews focused on infants, children, and adolescents. The evidence indicates that early-life respiratory vulnerability, recurrent viral infections, atopic and inflammatory pathways, microbiome alterations, environmental exposures, and social disadvantage may interact across childhood and contribute to heterogeneous long-term respiratory trajectories. Longitudinal cohort findings further show that some children maintain persistent airflow impairment into adulthood, whereas others demonstrate partial improvement over time. Because the available evidence is stronger for associations and prognostic trajectories than for intervention efficacy, preventive and clinical strategies should be interpreted cautiously, with emphasis on appropriate diagnosis, phenotype- and severity-based management, reduction of avoidable exposures, age-appropriate pulmonary-function monitoring, and equitable access to follow-up.
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BibTeX
@article{sharma2026clinical,
title = {{Clinical, Immunological, and Environmental Determinants of Pediatric Respiratory Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Long-Term Health Outcomes}},
author = {Jignesh Sharma and Konda Shravan Kumar and Ankit Sharma and Muzahid K Sheikh and Ashish Kumar Shukla and Saira Sultana Shaikh},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.7759/cureus.117121},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13717418},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Clinical, Immunological, and Environmental Determinants of Pediatric Respiratory Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Long-Term Health Outcomes
AU - Jignesh Sharma
AU - Konda Shravan Kumar
AU - Ankit Sharma
AU - Muzahid K Sheikh
AU - Ashish Kumar Shukla
AU - Saira Sultana Shaikh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
JO - Cureus
DO - 10.7759/cureus.117121
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13717418
AB - Pediatric respiratory disorders remain a major source of childhood morbidity, healthcare utilization, impaired quality of life, and long-term pulmonary vulnerability. The background of this review centers on the complex interaction between early-life clinical susceptibility, immune maturation, environmental exposure, respiratory infections, and social determinants in shaping pediatric airway health. The objective was to synthesize evidence on clinical, immunological, infectious, environmental, and social determinants relevant to pediatric asthma, recurrent wheeze, and associated long-term respiratory outcomes, including disease persistence, impaired lung-function trajectories, and later respiratory vulnerability. The methodology involved a structured literature search of studies published from 2015 to 2025 in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar, including observational studies, clinical studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and high-quality narrative reviews focused on infants, children, and adolescents. The evidence indicates that early-life respiratory vulnerability, recurrent viral infections, atopic and inflammatory pathways, microbiome alterations, environmental exposures, and social disadvantage may interact across childhood and contribute to heterogeneous long-term respiratory trajectories. Longitudinal cohort findings further show that some children maintain persistent airflow impairment into adulthood, whereas others demonstrate partial improvement over time. Because the available evidence is stronger for associations and prognostic trajectories than for intervention efficacy, preventive and clinical strategies should be interpreted cautiously, with emphasis on appropriate diagnosis, phenotype- and severity-based management, reduction of avoidable exposures, age-appropriate pulmonary-function monitoring, and equitable access to follow-up.
SN - 2168-8184
ER -