Association seen between incident allergic rhinitis and increase in PM2.5<\/sub> during period from 30 gestational weeks to 52 weeks after birth<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n <\/b><\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n FRIDAY, March 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Prenatal and postnatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5<\/sub>) is associated with the development of allergic rhinitis in children, according to a study published online March 11 in Thorax<\/em>.<\/p>\n Yu-Ting Lin, M.D., Ph.D., from China Medical University Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, and colleagues used a large population-based birth cohort of 140,911 singleton live infants to examine the effects of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to PM2.5<\/sub> on the onset of allergic rhinitis.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 33.55 percent of the children were identified as cases of incident allergic rhinitis. Children with allergic rhinitis had a mean age of 2.97 \u00c2\u00b1 1.78 years at initial diagnosis. A significant association was seen between allergic rhinitis and an interquartile range (17.98 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup>) increase in PM2.5<\/sub> during the period from 30 gestational weeks to 52 weeks after birth. Associations were seen between allergic rhinitis and a PM2.5<\/sub> ranging from 26 to 76 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m3<\/sup> in the exposure-response relationship (adjusted hazard ratios ranged from 1.00 to 1.05 per 1 \u00c2\u00b5g\/m\u00c2\u00b3 increase).<\/p>\n “Further studies are required to confirm the association between prenatal and postnatal exposures to PM2.5<\/sub> and allergic rhinitis incidence and to verify the vulnerable time window,” the authors write.<\/p>\n