Secondhand Smoke Leaves Kids Prone to Severe Infections

Here's another reason why adults shouldn't smoke around kids: In addition to developing asthma and respiratory infections, children in households where someone smokes are more likely to catch a whole range of severe infections, including meningococcal disease. Many even have to be hospitalized, a new study found.

Being around smoke during the first few months of life was most dangerous, especially if the newborn was born underweight or premature.

"This is just adding to the list of why people should not be smoking," said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "It's probably that smoking is not just a respiratory irritant, but many things in smoke affect the immune system." And exposure to secondhand smoke during a baby's first six months of life increased the likelihood of a hospitalization by 45 percent by the time the child was 8. Babies born prematurely were twice as likely to be hospitalized, while those born with a low birth weight were 75 percent more likely to be hospitalized during the first eight years of life, the study found.

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