Nursery World - Pollen season babies at more risk of asthma

Babies who are exposed to high levels of pollen during the first few months of life are up to three times more likely to become wheezy before age two, a new study claims.

Researchers from the University of California found that babies bornbetween mid-February and March 2000, and between late August 2000 andearly January 2001, were at a much greater risk of becoming wheezy thanthose born outside of those months.

These months coincided with periods where pollen counts and levels offungal spores in the environment were at their peak.

For the study, which is published in Thorax, a British Medical Journalpublication, 514 children were tracked from birth to the age of two,with signs of early wheezing confirmed by medical records and levels ofspecific types of T cells measured in blood samples. T-cells are bloodcells that are involved in causing the airways of asthma sufferers tonarrow, causing wheezing or an asthma attack.

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