Passive exposure to tobacco smoke and bacterial meningitis in children

• Published in: Journal of paediatrics and child health Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 388 - 391
• Main Authors: Iles, K, Poplawski, NK, Couper, RTL
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Science Pty 01-08-2001; Blackwell
• Subjects: Australia; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis; bacterial meningitis; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Exposure; Female; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Infant; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Meningitis; Meningitis, Haemophilus - etiology; Meningitis, Haemophilus - mortality; Passive smoking; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco Smoke Pollution - adverse effects; Australia; Oceania; Human; Infection; Nervous system diseases; Central nervous system disease; Risk factor; Bacteriosis; Passive smoking; Meningitis; Infant; Epidemiology; Child
• ISSN: 1034-4810; 1440-1754
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-1754.2001.00698.x

Objective: To determine whether an association exists between passive exposure to tobacco smoke and bacterial meningitis in childhood, in an Australian population.
Methodology: A retrospective, case‐controlled telephone survey of the parents of 71 children admitted to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide, with bacterial meningitis between 1990 and 1999.
Results: The annual incidence of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) meningitis decreased significantly during the study period (11.0 cases per year 1991–;93 and 1.5 cases per year 1994–;99, Fisher’s exact test; P < 0.001) whilst pneumococcal cases significantly increased (2.3 cases per year 1991–;93 and 4.9 cases per year 1994–;99, Fisher’s exact test; P < 0.001). Although comparable numbers of cases and controls came from smoking families (41%vs 45%), more cases came from bi‐parental smoking households (17%vs 8%; odds ratio (OR) = 2.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77–;6.24) and cases were more likely to live in households where parents smoked inside (27%vs 13%; OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.05–;6.03). In households where parents smoked, children who had had meningitis were significantly more likely to have parents who smoked inside the house, than children who had not had meningitis (66%vs 28%, Fisher’s exact test; P = 0.005).
Conclusion: This study suggests there may be an association between high levels of passive exposure to tobacco smoke and bacterial meningitis in Australian children. A study with larger numbers of affected children which quantifies passive exposure to tobacco smoke is needed to determine the strength of this association.