Passive smoking puts children at increased risk of meningitis
A CHARITY has welcomed the recommendations in a report which shows that children subjected to passive smoking are at an increased risk of bacterial meningitis.
The report for the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), undertaken by the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies (UKCTCS) at the University of Nottingham, calls for legislation to prohibit smoking in all vehicles and in entrances to public buildings, parks and outdoor play areas frequented by children.
The report has been published before the Department of Health’s July review of smoking legislation in England. The report estimates that there are at least 200 cases of bacterial meningitis caused by passive smoking every year.
The report also calls for measures to encourage parents to stop smoking in front of their children at home. The findings show that living in a household in which one or more people smoke, more than doubles the risk of sudden infant death. Children growing up with parents or siblings who smoke are also around 90 per cent more likely to become smokers themselves.
9,500 children are admitted to hospital every year as a direct result of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke.
Steve Dayman, the Chief Executive of Meningitis UK who lost his own son to meningitis, said: “The findings of this report show how important it is to avoid smoking around young children.
“At Meningitis UK we work with families who have suffered the devastation of meningitis and our sole focus is to develop a vaccine to eradicate the disease completely.
“In the absence of a vaccine to protect against all forms of meningitis, it is imperative that measures are taken to reduce the risk of contracting the disease, including avoiding smoking around babies and young children.”
Passive smoking weakens the immune system in babies and toddlers, which puts them more at risk from infectious diseases including meningitis and septicaemia.*
Parents who smoke increase the risk of their babies catching meningitis because cigarette smoke helps the bacteria adhere to the tissues lining the throat.*
For more information about Meningitis UK, or to support the charity’s Search 4 a Vaccine Campaign, call 0117 373 7373 or visit www.meningitisUK.org
Notes to the editor
*Research paper: Early life second hand smoke exposure and serious infectious morbidity during the first eight years: evidence from Hong Kong’s ‘Children of 1997’ birth cohort, by Man-Ki Kwok et al. Published on Tobacco Control Online; May 27, 2008 http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com
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