Autumn Babies at Higher Risk for Childhood Asthma

Filed in archive Asthma on August 8, 2009

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In a study published last year, scientists reported that children born in autumn are more likely to develop asthma than those born any other time of the year. It's not the timing itself, but it's just that babies born four months before the peak of winter virus season are more likely to get a viral respiratory infection during infancy, which in turn increases the risk of childhood asthma.

Unfortunately it is not so simple to protect an infant from contracting respiratory illness during the winter flu season. Researchers say that vaccines for this age group may need to be developed, particularly for those that have high risk of developing asthma.