Cape Town - Children of smokers are more likely to contract pneumonia and other lung-related diseases than those of non-smokers, new evidence suggests.
According to the early findings of a UCT lung health study being carried out in the Drakenstein region, babies of smokers are not only prone to pneumonia, but are likely to be born prematurely with low birth weight.
The study found that the preventable disease remains common among children, with one in every three children born in that region diagnosed with pneumonia during the first year of life despite a very good immunisation programme.
Heather Zar, the head of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Red Cross Children’s Hospital, is the lead researcher in the multimillion-rand study that is tracking newborns in Drakenstein.
She said the latest findings showed that there were high rates of exposure to several risk factors that might impact on child health. “There is a strong association between maternal health, birth outcomes and subsequent child health.”
These exposures, she said, could be prevented.
Pneumonia is regarded as a major cause of death among children under five and is receiving special attention this month in anticipation of World Pneumonia Day next Thursday (November 12).
According to the study, which tracked more than 1 000 mothers and their babies who visited Paarl Hospital, Mbekweni and TC Newman clinics, researchers found that rates of tobacco smoke exposure was high, with a third of pregnant women described as active smokers.
At birth, 56 percent of newborns had proportional levels of cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) indicating tobacco exposure, while 18 percent had levels found in active smokers. At six weeks of age, 53 percent of infants tested positive for tobacco exposure. About 21 percent of mothers surveyed were found to be depressed while 67 percent had experienced lifetime trauma. About 32 percent of mothers had been abused by their intimate partners, negatively affecting their babies’ health.
Ante-natal depression was associated with low birth weight, while maternal trauma exposure was significantly associated with a reduction in head circumference at birth.
The study enrolled women in their second trimester, following them throughout their pregnancy and birth, until their children were five years old. Researchers measured environmental, psycho-social, and demographic risk factors that the children were exposed to, and measured their outcomes.
Cape Argus