Figure 7

Proposed stages of acute respiratory illness. Derived from the analysis of three time point transitions of ARI, our model proposes that ARI can be divided into three stages reflecting the peak, reduction and resolution of symptoms. By encompassing clinically distinct groups, we additionally propose that the presence of underlying respiratory disease, particularly asthma exacerbation, can influence either the magnitude of gene expression or the transcriptional profiles that characterize the distinct biological processes at each respective stage of ARI. ARI, acute respiratory illness; BL, baseline; D2, day 2; D, day 6.