They showed infections by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) stripped immune cells of their ability to calm down inflammation in the lung's airways.
They say their findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, will help develop ways of preventing asthma.
The charity Asthma UK said the study had "really exciting" potential.
When something irritates the airways of a patient with asthma, the airways become tightened, inflamed and produce too much sticky mucus. All of this can make breathing difficult.
Previous studies have shown a link between repeated lung infections with RSV and developing asthma later in life.
One Swedish study showed showed 39% of infants taken to hospital with RSV had asthma when they were 18. However, only 9% of infants who were not ill developed asthma.
How the virus might be able to do this was, however, unknown. Now a team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe they have an explanation.
Their experiments on mice showed the virus impaired the ability of a specific part of the immune system, called regulatory T cells, to calm inflammation.
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