An Evaluation of Cotinine as an Index of Exposure to Tabacco Smoke in Children with Recurrent Respiratory Tract Infections Using HPLC Method

摘要

The authors evaluated the frequency of exposure to tobacco smoke among children suffering from respiratory tract infections. The investigations comprised 141 children aged from 2 months to 6 years that were treated in the 2nd Department of Pediatric and Allergology of Polish Mother’s Memorial Hospital Research Institute in ?ód? (Poland). 69 of them were exposed to tobacco smoke in their home environment. The remaining 72 children came from non-smoking families. 26 (37.7%) individuals among the passive smokers and 15 (20.83%) among the children from non-smoking families suffered from recurrent respiratory tract infections. Cotinine concentrations were evaluated in the group of 69 children using the HPLC-UV method. The determined average cotinine/creatinine index expressed as median was higher in passive smokers with recurrent respiratory infections than among passive smokers with non-recurrent respiratory infections. Moreover, it was stated that the exposure to cigarette smoke was more often among children of younger and less well educated parents as well as living in poor housing conditions. These studies clearly indicate that there is a need for extensive education on the harmful effects of passive smoking and the recurrence of infections.