Many pediatricians include nose and throat cultures in their management of children with minor respiratory-tract infec tions. They believe that the best safeguard against rheu matic fever and other complications of hemolytic strepto coccic infections is to identify that organism when present, and then give some antibiotic, usually penicillin, liberally. Thorough attention to the observations in this careful report will help to make our judgments more sound and helpful.
A prospective study of 1,144 infants and their families was performed. Smoking and family histories were evaluated with respect to the incidence of lower respiratory disease during the first year of life. It was found that (1) tracheitis and bronchitis occurred significantly more frequently in infants exposed to cigarette smoke in the home, (2) maternal smoking imposed greater risks upon the infant than paternal smoking, (3) occurrence of neither tracheitis nor bronchitis showed a consistent relationship to the number of cigarettes smoked, (4) a family history that was positive for respiratory illness (chronic cough or bronchitis) significantly influenced the incidence of bronchitis, (5) too few cases of laryngitis and pneumonia were seen to warrant any opinions regarding the adverse influence of either smoking or a family history that was positive for respiratory illness, and (6) occurrence of bronchiolitis was not affected by the presence of a smoker nor influenced by a family history that was positive for respiratory illness. It is concluded that passive smoking is dangerous to the health of infants and that infants born to families with a history that is positive for respiratory illness (chronic cough or bronchitis) are at risk of developing bronchitis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.