[Respiratory signs linked to passive inhalation of tobacco smoke in infants (author's transl)].
Thirty observations done on infants formed the base of a review of the literature on the epidemiology, the clinical signs and the physiopathological mechanisms of passive smoking (PS). The main signal was a chronic cough but in infants under 12 months, PS also provoked, as well, an "asthmatoid bronchitis", progressing relentlessly since the coming out of maternity ward, in relation with the maternal tobacco addiction. In these patients, examinations failed to disclose the different causes of recurring respiratory infections. Among the granulocytic tests, only the spontaneous migration of neutrophil polykaryocytes in the absence of chemotactic stimulus was significantly lowered, by comparison with the controls. The authors did a review on epidemiological surveys done to this day; they revealed a direct relationship between the parent's addiction to tobacco and the frequency of recurring respiratory disorders. It was particularly evident when the mother smoked and the child was under 12 months. At this age it was independant from the infection eventually transmitted by the parent's cough. The constituants of tobacco smoke probably have a depressive action over the regional or perhaps the general means of immunitary defense as it is suggested by the decrease of leukocyte migration noted in parents with PS. It is therefore necessary in our country to define the true risks of PS in infants thanks to well organized epidemiological surveys and to obtain the means of an efficient preventive policy.
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012906:Smoke; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014026:Nicotiana
D012906:Smoke
Manifestations respiratoires liées à l'inhalation passive de fumée de tabac chez l'enfant d'âge pré-scolaire.