Extract
Lower respiratory tract illnesses (LRIs) are the largest cause of mortality among young children worldwide [1], and are associated with altered lung function, immune system development and respiratory disease in adulthood [2, 3]. Several studies have demonstrated associations between wheezing LRIs in early life and exposure to diesel traffic related air pollutants (D-TRAP) [1, 4, 5]. We, along with others, have previously demonstrated that younger maternal age at birth is also a risk factor for wheezing LRIs in the first year of life [6, 7]. Why children of younger mothers are more susceptible is unknown, but both altered responses to environmental challenges in their offspring due to maternal immaturity [6] and increased socioeconomic and environmental risks have been proposed as causes [8].
Abstract
Association of wheeze with diesel pollution exposure is stronger in children of younger mothers http://ow.ly/KMHTy
Footnotes
Support statement: This work was supported by NIH grants ES006694, HL56177 and HL103970. The publication's contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Funding information for this article has been deposited with FundRef.
Conflict of interest: Disclosures can be found alongside the online version of this article at erj.ersjournals.com
- Received September 16, 2014.
- Accepted March 3, 2015.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015