Type of Fuel Consumed and Frequency of Lorry Passing Associated with Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Symptoms in Children

• Published in: Iranian journal of environmental health science & engineering Vol. 2; no. 2
• Main Author: M Karimi, MH Ehrampoush, M Mirzaei, MH Ahmadieh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Iranian Association of Environmental Health (IAEH) 13-07-2006
• Subjects: Asthma , Allergic rhinitis , Air pollution , Iran
• ISSN: 1735-1979

Allergic diseases are prevalent in children and their prevalence and
severity are different in dissimilar areas of the world. Many studies
have been carried out regarding the inspection of the causative
environmental factors such as air, foods and environmental allergens.
In this study, using the ISAAC standardized method, the relation
between asthma and allergic rhinitis symptoms with the kind of fuel
consumed at homes and the frequency of lorry passing through the
streets next to the houses in 3000 children aged 6-7 years and 3000
children 13-14 years was investigated. The results indicated that in
the children aged 6-7 years, the prevalence of asthma and allergic
rhinitis had a meaningful relation with the type of fuel consumed at
homes (P<0.05), so that the less pollutant fuel resulted in less
symptoms. The evidence suggested that in both age group, when there was
lorry passing all day long, there were more wheezing and allergic
rhinitis symptoms, and the difference was meaningful regarding allergic
rhinitis (P< 0.05). The study reveals that indoor and outdoor air
pollution is associated with increase in the prevalence of allergic
diseases in children. Therefore, it seems that these types of air
pollution can be a cause of increase of the allergic cases in
childhood.