The role of bacterial infections in asthma

Bacteria are well known causative organisms in the exacerbation of asthma and pose significant problems for patients and their clinicians. Bacterial organisms can increase airway hyper-responsiveness and inflammation in the patient with known asthma, but now the question arises whether these same mechanisms may be responsible for the development of asthma. This article presents evidence that specific organisms, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae, are known to exacerbate asthma, but may be involved in asthma pathogenesis.