2 times bronchitis

Question

Hello, I have had two bronchitis in two and a half months. Does it mean that I have cystic fibrosis because I had a lot of bronchitis in the past?
Thank you

Answer

Hello,

Cystic fibrosis is a rare disease: the last report of the French Register of Cystic Fibrosis (2015) counted 6585 patients for a population of nearly 65 million inhabitants in France, a frequency (prevalence) of 1 per 10 000. Bronchitis due to bronchial infections by viruses or bacteria, are particularly frequent and also occur in otherwise healthy individuals, children or adults.
Bronchitis should refer to the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis when they are particularly frequent or associated with other suggestive symptoms of the disease such as insufficient growth in weight and height or digestive signs (chronic fatty diarrhea, abdominal pain). In this case, the diagnosis has to be confirmed by a sweat test and / or by the identification in the blood of 2 mutations of the cystic fibrosis gene.
If you are concerned about this diagnosis, I advise you to talk to your physician who will be in a position to take stock of your history, examine you and refer you to a cystic fibrosis resource center (CRCM) if he/her judges necessary.

Hope this answer can help. I wish you a happy New Year.

Gilles RAULT, MD, Roscoff CF Center

14.02.2017