Definition: Bronchitis is the medical term for an inflammation of the main passages in your airways, the bronchial tubes. It can be short-term (acute) or recurrent (chronic).
Bronchitis often follows a viral infection in the respiratory tract. Sometimes, a second bacterial infection follows on the heels of the virus, worsening the condition of the airways and possibly spreading into the lungs.
Wheezy bronchitis or asthmatic bronchitis is one of the names doctors sometimes give to a condition in infants consisting of recurrent episodes of wheezing and / or coughing. This diagnosis sometimes leads to asthma when the child is older, but could also resolve on its own within the first few years of life.
