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Children born four months before peak flu season are more
likely to develop childhood asthma compared to children born at any other time
of the year, new research shows.
The study belongs to Tina Hartert of Vanderbilt
University in Nashville, Tenn.
and her colleagues and is to appear in the first issue for December of the
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, a publication of
the American Thoracic Society.
The researchers analyzed the birth and medical records of more than 95,000
children and their mothers in Tennessee
to see whether date of birth together with the peak in winter respiratory
viruses posed a higher risk for developing early childhood asthma. The study
found that kids born in early fall, about four months before the height of the
winter cold and flu season, have a 30 percent higher risk of developing asthma
compared to those born at any other time of year.
“We think this is because it puts them at high risk of getting a serious
respiratory virus at a young age,” Hartert said, explaining the findings. The
respiratory virus she is talking about is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV),
which produces typical cold symptoms
She added that more study is needed to prove that preventing RSV could keep
infants from developing asthma. “That is where we are now. We need to prove
that preventing this infection prevents this lifelong chronic disease.” The
easiest way to achieve this goal is to have a vaccine working on RVS but so far
none exists. “It’s in the pipeline. We just don’t have one yet,” Hartert said.
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