We know that passive smoking is harmful, even more so for children. Carbon monoxide and other toxic substances in tobacco smoke affect children’s hearts and organs. It has even been suggested that smoke could cause behavioral problems in children.
A new American study confirms one of the harmful effects of passive smoking. It concerns the risk of infectious diseases in children. Cincinnati researchers show that the risk of hospitalization for respiratory infections like asthma is doubled in children exposed to cigarette smoke, in the car or at home.
To realize this, the scientists measured cotinine (a substance produced by the body when it receives nicotine, editor’s note) present in the saliva and blood of 600 children aged 1 to 16 years. All were rushed to Cincinnati Hospital for asthma and other respiratory problems. They followed them for more than a year, the time to see if the young patients were hospitalized again. As a result, 17% of the children made a new hospital stay. Cotinine analysis revealed that children exposed to tobacco smoke doubled their risk of being hospitalized.
For Dr. Robert Kahn, author of the study, measuring cotinine is a good tool for identifying children who are victims of passive smoking and thus better targeting smoking cessation interventions with their parents.
The study was published in the trade journal Pediatrics.
