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Cigarette Smoke & Ear Infections The AAP's Policy Statement on Environmental Tobacco Smoke cites numerous studies showing a link between second-hand smoke and ear infections. Cigarette Smoke & Ear InfectionsDoctor's Guide reports a study from Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine on children in smoking households:
The AAP's Policy Statement on Environmental Tobacco Smoke cites numerous studies showing a link between second-hand smoke and ear infections. If that's not enough, they also document increased pneumonia, bronchitis, a four-times-higher risk of illness requiring hospitalization, exacerbation of asthma, and increased risk of SIDS among children exposed to cigarette smoke. A 1992 study cited by the AAP shows a 38% higher rate of otitis among children exposed to any tobacco smoke during the first three years of life. A 1997 study of over 2000 children in Pittsburgh also showed more middle ear infections in children who were exposed to tobacco smoke during the first two years of life, and fewer such infections in children who were breastfed longer. However, it's important to note that those were not the major relationships in the data: "The most important sociodemographic risk factors for otitis media appear to be low socioeconomic status and repeated exposure to large numbers of other children, whether at home or in day care." The factor of exposure to other children is brought home by another article whose abstract reports "Day care attendance in the first year of life was associated with two or more doctor-diagnosed ear infections....For children attending day care, exposure to pets in day care, the presence of a rug or carpet in the area where the child slept in day care, and a nonresidential setting for day care all were independent predictors of two or more doctor-diagnosed ear infections." Poking around a bit more, I find the practice guidelines for otitis media with effusion (OME) developed jointly by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Otolaryngology. ("Otitis Media with Effusion", by the way, is just the fancy way to say "middle ear infection with fluid".) Among the salient facts:
My reading of the evidence (and yours may be different!) is that it's not a good idea to expose young children to cigarette smoke, but it's an even worse idea to expose them to other sick children. Add This Entry To Your CureZone Favorites! Print this pageEmail this page  Alert Webmaster
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