The objective of the work was to attempt a definition of the etiology of relapsing upper airway diseases (UA) and to evaluate them from the aspect of the child’s prognosis. The prospective study comprised 156 children with repeated inflammations of the upper airways without manifestations of asthma and pollinosis where the authors proceeded according to the outlined objective, and 685 children with bronchial asthma where the authors confirmed the repeated occurrence of inflammations of the UA - mainly sinusitits - before the assessment of the diagnosis of bronchial asthma. The age bracket of the patients is 4 - 18 years. In the group of children with repeated inflammations of the UA were 87 boys and 69 girls, in the group of asthmatic children 392 boys and 293 girls. The results of the investigation confirmed the significant part played by atopy, gastrooesophageal reflux (GER) and otorhinolaryngological pathology (ENT) in repeated inflammations of the UA. In these children the authors observed also the presence of bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) which is the most important risk factor of bronchial asthma.

        Key words: repeated inflammations of the upper airways, atopy, gastrooesophageal reflux, bronchial hyperreactivity, minor airways