New evidence links birth season to asthma development
Children who are born four months before the height of the cold and flu season have a greater risk of developing childhood asthma than children born at any other time of year.
The study looked at over 95,000 children and their mothers in the USA to see if there was a relationship between date of birth and childhood asthma risk.
The researchers found that children who suffered with the respiratory infection bronchiolitis during early childhood and those who were born in Autumn, had the highest risk of asthma.
Autumn shows the highest amount of respiratory viruses and children born approximately four months before this peak are most likely to develop asthma.
The study demonstrated for the first time that timing of birth in relation to the peak in winter virus activity independently predicts asthma development.
Read the original press release from the American Thoracic Society.