More than 40% of babies admitted for bronchiolitis were passive smokers during pregnancy
More than 40 percent of babies admitted for bronchiolitis were passive smokers during pregnancy, as evidenced in the study 'Passive prenatal and postnatal smoking and bronchiolitis', by J. Cano Fernández.
In this work it is shown that smoking is a risk factor in the appearance of diseases of the respiratory tract, something that is also observed with exposure to tobacco smoke at early ages. Thus, over a sample of 450 infants, 27.3 percent they were diagnosed with bronchiolitis and, of them, "32.9 percent had at least one smoker parent".
In addition, 27.8 percent of the total were exposed to tobacco during pregnancy, of which 44% were admitted for bronchiolitis. To all this is added the fact that the incidence of pregnant smokers was high, "becoming one in four of them."
Therefore, it is concluded that the smoking habit during pregnancy increases "significantly" the risk of bronchiolitis in the infant, to which is added the increased risk of wheezing and upper and lower respiratory tract infections during the first months of life of babies.
This acute respiratory infection constitutes an "important" health problem in the first two years of life, since it is "the first cause of hospitalization of the infant". This is suffered by about 10 percent of infants during the epidemic season, of which 15 percent requires admission.
WHO seeks policies to reduce tobacco use
On the occasion of the recent celebration of World No Tobacco Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) sets its objective of "the risks posed by the use of tobacco for health and promote effective policies to reduce it".
Another sample of his problematic exposes the work 'Factors of risk associated to the hospitalization by bronquiolitis acute in the period postneonatal', of Elaine P. Albernaz. It reveals that the risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis "is 57 percent higher in babies exposed to tobacco smoke."
In addition, this study states that breastfeeding "represents a protective effect against infections." An example of this is that the risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis "is three times higher in children breastfed for less than a month than in those who have been breastfed for longer."
Therefore, and because respiratory infections "are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in infants", it is noted that the respiratory syncytial virus is the infectious agent that causes the most infections in infants and children under two years of age. causing more than 90 percent of cases of bronchiolitis. "
