Latitude modifies the effect size of factors related to recurrent wheeze in the first year of life.

Background: Although the association between latitude and asthma prevalence has been studied to a certain extent, its influence on the magnitude of the association of risk/protective factors with recurrent wheeze in infants has never been reported.

Methods: The adjusted odd ratios (aOR) of various risk/protective factors for recurrent wheeze from 31,920 infants from 19 centres of the "Estudio Internacional de Sibilacias en Lactantes" (EISL) in very different parts of the world were used to build a meta-regression using the strength of the aOR of each factor as dependent variable and centre latitude as explanatory variable. The meta-regression was further adjusted for continent.

Severe spinal cord injury in craniocervical dislocation. Case-based update.

Background: Craniocervical distraction injuries, including atlanto-axial dislocation (AAD) and atlanto-ocipital dislocation (AOD), are often associated with severe spinal cord involvement with high morbidity and mortality rates. Many patients with these injuries die at the accident scene, but advances in emergency resuscitation and transport permit that many patients arrive alive to hospitals.

Discussion: Children with craniocervical distraction injuries usually present with a severe cranioencephalic traumatism that is the most relevant lesion at admission.

Lung function among infants born preterm, with or without bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Objective: Both healthy preterm infants and those with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) have poor lung function during childhood and adolescence, although there is no evidence whether prematurity alone explains the reduction in lung function found in BPD infants. Our study seeks to know if lung function, measured in infancy by means of rapid thoracic compression with raised volume technique, is different between preterm infants with and without BPD.

Methods: Lung function was measured in 43 preterm infants with BPD and in 32 preterm infants without BPD at a chronological age range of 2-28 months.

Early exposure to acetaminophen and allergic disorders.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize the data related to the association between acetaminophen and allergic diseases, and to try to establish a conclusion regarding the extent to which the association is unbiased and what its strength might be.

Recent Findings: Several studies have shown an association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and allergic diseases in the offspring. Furthermore, this association has also been found between early exposure and recent exposure to the drug and several allergic conditions.

International study of wheezing in infants: risk factors in affluent and non-affluent countries during the first year of life.

Risk factors for wheezing during the first year of life (a major cause of respiratory morbidity worldwide) are poorly known in non-affluent countries. We studied and compared risk factors in infants living in affluent and non-affluent areas of the world. A population-based study was carried out in random samples of infants from centres in Latin America (LA) and Europe (EU).

Early exposure to paracetamol or to antibiotics and eczema at school age: modification by asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis.

The association between early exposure to paracetamol or to antibiotics and eczema is conflicting. This study aims to know whether the early exposure to those drugs is associated with eczema at school age, and whether the strength of the association is modified by the presence of asthma or rhinoconjunctivitis. Children aged 6-7 (n = 13908) from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood in Spain provided data about current asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema.

The utility of sputum eosinophils and exhaled nitric oxide for monitoring asthma control with special attention to childhood asthma.

The monitoring of sputum eosinophils has received certain attention as a tool for improving asthma management both in children and in adults. The present paper reviews the technique and also the usefulness of induced sputum in the diagnosis and assessment of asthma, together with its ability to predict the response to treatment and to anticipate asthma exacerbations. Special attention is addressed to childhood asthma.

Asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis comorbidity: united airway disease or inherited target organs?

The idea of a united airway disease for asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis is supported by clinical and epidemiological data. However, many asthmatics do not have rhinoconjunctivitis and vice versa. The aim of this study was to investigate if the family history of a specific organ involvement is associated with the implication of the same organ in the allergic child.

Is the effect of prenatal paracetamol exposure on wheezing in preschool children modified by asthma in the mother?

Background: There seems to be an association between paracetamol consumption during late pregnancy and the prevalence of wheezing in infancy and childhood. The aim of the present study is to determine whether the aforementioned association is modified by the presence of asthma in the mother.

Methods: A total of 1,741 children aged 3-5 years from an epidemiological survey performed in the province of Murcia (Spain) were included in the analysis.

Influence of two different geo-climatic zones on the prevalence and time trends of asthma symptoms among Spanish adolescents and schoolchildren.

Few studies have focused on the long-term influence of the climate on the prevalence of asthma. The aim of this study is to establish the influence of geo-climatic conditions on the prevalence of asthma symptoms both in adolescents and schoolchildren, and to discover if this influence is associated with their time trends. Eight centres in Spain performed both ISAAC phases I (1994) and III (2002) in children 13-14 years old.

Percent body fat, skinfold thickness or body mass index for defining obesity or overweight, as a risk factor for asthma in schoolchildren: which one to use in epidemiological studies?

None of the epidemiological studies indicating that obesity is a risk factor for asthma in schoolchildren have used the percent body fat (PBF) to define obesity. The present study compares the definition of obesity using body mass index (BMI), PBF and the raw sum of the thickness of four skinfolds (SFT) to evaluate this condition as a risk factor for asthma. All classes of children of the target ages of 6-8 years of all schools in four municipalities of Murcia (Spain) were surveyed.

Inhaled corticosteroids in asthmatic children: are they as safe in infants and preschoolers as in older children? A review.

Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the cornerstone of asthma management both in adults and in children. There are some adverse effects related to the use of these drugs in all ages. Those adverse effects can be local or systemic.