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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staffComplications of severe bronchiolitis may include:
- Increasingly labored breathing
- Cyanosis, a condition in which the skin appears blue or ashen, especially around the lips, caused by lack of oxygen
- Dehydration
- Fatigue
- Severe respiratory failure
If these occur, your child may need hospitalization. Severe respiratory failure may require insertion of a tube into the trachea (intubation) to assist the child's breathing until the infection is brought under control. Untreated, this can be fatal.
If your infant was born prematurely, has a heart or lung condition, or has a compromised immune system, watch closely for beginning signs of bronchiolitis. The infection may rapidly become severe, and signs and symptoms of the underlying condition may become worse. In such cases, your child will usually need hospitalization to monitor his or her health and provide any necessary care.
Infrequently, bronchiolitis is accompanied by another lung infection such as bacterial pneumonia, which is treated separately. Reinfections with RSV after the initial episode may occur but typically aren't as severe. Repeated episodes of bronchiolitis may precede the development of asthma later in life, but the relationship between the two conditions is unclear.
