Early exposure to airborne pollutants could increase the risk of infection in newborn babies. The findings suggest that parents and pediatricians need to work together to reduce infants' exposure to traffic and other sources of dirty air, said study author Catherine Karr, an academic pediatrician at the University of Washington, Seattle.
Exposure to air pollution can damage newborns' lungs and assault their immune systems, making babies more vulnerable to disease.
Chronic exposure to air pollution, the study found, increases a baby's chance of developing bronchiolitis -- a lung infection that is the most common cause of hospitalizations in the first year of life.
The findings suggest that parents and pediatricians need to work together to reduce infants' exposure to traffic and other sources of dirty air, said study author Catherine Karr, an academic pediatrician at the University of Washington, Seattle. That's true no matter where families live, she added.
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