ABSTRACT
The question that forms the title of this chapter has not yet been answered. However, respiratory tract infection with the atypical bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae has recently emerged as an important clinical issue in patients with chronic asthma. The exact contribution of chronic atypical bacterial infection to asthma pathogenesis and phenotype remains to be determined, but a growing body of both clinical and basic scientific data implicates atypical pathogens as potentially important factors in asthma.
