CHILDHOOD MORBIDITY AND AIR POLLUTION IN THETEPLICE PROGRAM

Overview

Background.
A study of morbidity of children aged 0 to 3 years was conducted in two districts in the CzechRepublic. Comparisons were made between children living in Teplice district, known for its high air pollution, andchildren living in Prachatice, a district with consistently lower particulate and SO 2 exposures.Methods and Results. The children were selected for the follow up based on deliveries from May 1994 to December1966. Childhood morbidity during the first three years of life of 452 children was extracted from their pediatricrecords. Diagnoses were coded using the International Classification of Diseases – 10thedition, and categorized intobroad groupings. Children born in Teplice experienced a significantly higher rate of otitis media and otalgia,gastrointestinal infections, upper respiratory infections, and pneumonia, but did not differ in their risk for bronchitisor for viral infections such as varicella. These findings remained after multiple linear regression models adjusted foreducation, maternal age, maternal smoking, and other smokers in the household, breastfeeding, and attendance atday care.Conclusions. Air pollution may alter early childhood susceptibility to infection, but other differences between thedistricts must be considered: systematic diagnostic differences for several health outcomes comparing pediatriciansin Teplice vs. Prachatice, differences in health-care seeking behavior by the parents, and inadequate control forconfounding.

Key words:
air pollution, morbidity, infant health, child health, otitis media, bronchitida, pne umonia, upperrespiratory infection.