Bronchiolitis: update 2001.

In this review, reports from last year on the following topics are summarized: (1) reviews of bronchiolitis in infants; respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-associated illness, including possible viral mechanisms of alteration of airway function and results of an epidemiologic study of bronchiolitis-associated mortality. Studies evaluating (2) the use of serum eosinophilic cationic protein as a marker for development of subsequent persistent wheezing infants; (3) parental bronchial responsiveness as an indicator of genetic susceptibility to acute bronchiolitis; (4) prophylactic use of monoclonal antibody (Palivizumab) to control an outbreak of RSV in a hospital nursery; (5) a controlled clinical trial of ribaviron in acutely ill children; (6) reports of new associations with bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP); (7) case reports of use of methotrexate as an alternate to corticosteroids in treatment of BOOP; (8) a newly described entity, eosinophilic bronchiolitis.