Abstract

GONZALEZ, David Alejandro; VICTORA, Cesar G.  and  GONCALVES, Helen. The effects of season at time of birth on asthma and pneumonia in childhood and adulthood in a birth cohort in southern Brazil. Cad. Saúde Pública [online]. 2008, vol.24, n.5, pp. 1089-1102. ISSN 0102-311X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2008000500016.

This study evaluated the effects of seasonal weather at time of birth and ambient temperature during the first six months of life on hospitalizations due to asthma and pneumonia in preschool children and on diagnosis of asthma in adulthood among individuals from the 1982 birth cohort in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The cohort included 5,914 live births, of which 77% were followed up until adulthood (23-24 yr). The risk of hospitalization due to pneumonia and asthma among children born from April to June (autumn) was 1.31 (95%CI: 0.99-1.73) to 2.4 (95%CI: 1.11-4.99) times higher than that of children born from January to March (summer). For temperature in the first six months of life, risk of hospitalization was 1.64 (95%CI: 1.26-2.13) to 3.16 (95%CI: 1.63-6.12) times higher for children born in the coldest as compared to the hottest temperature tertile. The effects of seasonality decreased with age, and the association with asthma in adulthood was weak. Hospitalizations in poor children were more frequent, but the effects of seasonality on pneumonia were more evident among the wealthiest.

Keywords : Asthma; Pneumonia; Climate Effects.