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Secondhand smoke lengthened hospitalization in infants with respiratory infections
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Infants with a family history of allergic disease with lower respiratory tract infections exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk of longer hospital stays, according to recent study results published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
“Respiratory infections in infants are common, but if the infant has a family history of respiratory issues such as asthma, they are at higher risk for infection and hospitalizations,” Meghan Lemke, MD, of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, said in a press release. “Our research found that infants with a family history of allergic disease who are also exposed to secondhand smoke had a 23% longer hospital stay than those without secondhand smoke exposure.”
Meghan Lemke
The cross-sectional study included 451 mother-infant pairs enrolled from 2004 to 2008 during an infant lower respiratory tract infection. Secondhand smoke and two measures of familial atopic predisposition (maternal atopic disease with allergen sensitization or familial atopy) were analyzed and lower respiratory tract infection severity was measured by bronchiolitis severity score and length of hospital stay.
Researchers found 57% of participants were exposed to secondhand smoke, 36% had a mother with atopic disease and 68% had familial atopy.
There was a significant difference in length of hospital stay in participants exposed to secondhand smoke with familial atopy (P=.006) but not in those without (P=.66). Infants with familial atopy exposed to secondhand smoke had a 23% increased length of hospital stay (P=.03), whereas there was no statistical significance in those without familial atopy (P=.07).
“Infants that are hospitalized for bronchiolitis have up to a 30% chance of developing persistent wheezing or asthma within the first decade of life,” James Sublett, MD, chair of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Indoor Environment Committee, said in a press release. “Secondhand smoke is extremely harmful to children with asthma and other respiratory illness, and has been shown to contribute to uncontrolled asthma.”
Disclosure: The study was funded by grants from the Thrasher Research Fund and NIH.
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