Viral respiratory infections (VRI) can act as triggers for acute asthma exacerbations and contribute significantly to asthma-related healthcare costs. Knowing the patterns of viruses amongst asthmatics can be useful in treating and preventing these exacerbations and help decrease the burden they impose on patients and healthcare systems. We aimed to quantify the viral prevalence in asthmatics presenting with exacerbations and identify influencing factors. A meta-analysis with a systematic search was conducted. Random-effect analysis was performed to quantify prevalence of viruses. A meta-regression was conducted to explain sources of heterogeneity and identify confounding factors. A VRI was detected in 52%–65% of the cases, and the detection rate was higher in children compared to adults. Rhinovirus was most often detected [51–71%], followed by respiratory syncytial virus [8–18%], influenza virus [7–15%], human parainfluenza virus [4–11%] and metapneumovirus virus [3–9%]. Meta-regression showed that the variables age and hemisphere contributed to the heterogeneity observed and were significantly associated with the detection of viruses in asthmatics. The climate variable reached significance for RSV and indicated a higher detection rate of viruses in asthmatics living in temperate compared to tropical regions. Besides age, geographic location and related variables significantly influence to what extent respiratory viruses are detected amongst asthmatics with exacerbations. Our results indicate that health authorities should adopt region- and population specific prevention and treatment strategies. Prevention and detection of viral respiratory infections in asthmatics could reduce asthma related disease burden and decrease antibiotic misuse.

病毒性呼吸道感染（VRI）可以引发急性哮喘急性发作，并大大增加了与哮喘有关的医疗费用。了解哮喘患者中的病毒类型可用于治疗和预防这些恶化，并有助于减轻它们加重于患者和医疗系统的负担。我们的目的是量化哮喘患者加重后的病毒感染率，并确定影响因素。进行了系统搜索的荟萃分析。进行随机效应分析以量化病毒的流行率。进行了元回归来解释异质性的来源并确定混杂因素。在52％–65％的病例中检出了VRI，儿童中的检出率高于成人。鼻病毒最常被发现[51–71％]，其次是呼吸道合胞病毒[8–18％]，流感病毒[7–15％]，人副流感病毒[4–11％]和间质肺病毒[3–9％]。荟萃回归显示，变量年龄和半球有助于观察到的异质性，并且与哮喘患者中病毒的检测显着相关。与热带地区相比，气候变量对RSV达到了重要意义，表明在温带地区的哮喘患者中病毒的检出率更高。除年龄外，地理位置和相关变量还显着影响哮喘加重患者中检测到呼吸道病毒的程度。我们的结果表明，卫生当局应采取针对特定地区和人群的预防和治疗策略。