Autumn Births Could Increase Asthma In Children

By: Sara Smith
Staff Writer
Published: Nov 24, 2008

A new study suggests that babies who are born during the autumn season have a higher risk of developing asthma. The reason behind the increased risk might be due to infections and colds that develop during the season. The next closest group in the study was bronchitis.

A new study suggests that infants who are born during the autumn season have a higher risk of developing asthma. Researchers believe that the increased risk might be due to infections and colds that develop during that time of the year.

The recent study was led by Dr. Tina Hartert from the Asthma Research Center at Vanderbilt University. The study focused on medical records of 95,000 infants and their mothers in the state of Tennessee. While there is not a study to prove it, they found that babies who were born during the autumn season had a 30 percent higher risk of developing asthma.

"Children in the Northern hemisphere born in the fall months have the highest rates of asthma, which suggests that winter viruses, like RSV, cause asthma," Hartert said in a statement.

Moreover, 70 percent of infants contract RSV in the first year. It is unique among viruses as the human body does not ever develop antibodies against it.

The study also revealed that the next closest group were babies who had suffered from bronchitis. The results from the study will lead researchers into a way to try and prevent the infections from developing using a new vaccine.