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Review
. 2015 Sep;70(9):898-905.
doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-207199. Epub 2015 Jun 23.

Asthma in Latin America

Erick Forno  1 , Mudita Gogna  1 , Alfonso Cepeda  2 , Anahi Yañez  3 , Dirceu Solé  4 , Philip Cooper  5 , Lydiana Avila  6 , Manuel Soto-Quiros  6 , Jose A Castro-Rodriguez  7 , Juan C Celedón  1
Affiliations
Review

Asthma in Latin America

Erick Forno et al. Thorax. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Consistent with the diversity of Latin America, there is profound variability in asthma burden among and within countries in this region. Regional variation in asthma prevalence is likely multifactorial and due to genetics, perinatal exposures, diet, obesity, tobacco use, indoor and outdoor pollutants, psychosocial stress and microbial or parasitic infections. Similarly, non-uniform progress in asthma management leads to regional variability in disease morbidity. Future studies of distinct asthma phenotypes should follow-up well-characterised Latin American subgroups and examine risk factors that are unique or common in Latin America (eg, stress and violence, parasitic infections and use of biomass fuels for cooking). Because most Latin American countries share the same barriers to asthma management, concerted and multifaceted public health and research efforts are needed, including approaches to curtail tobacco use, campaigns to improve asthma treatment, broadening access to care and clinical trials of non-pharmacological interventions (eg, replacing biomass fuels with gas or electric stoves).

Keywords: Asthma; Asthma Epidemiology; Asthma Genetics; Paediatric asthma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Prevalence of childhood asthma in Latin America
Sources: Mallol et al., Rosser et al., Caban-Martinez et al., Schei et al. Note: Prevalence in the Dominican Republic based on adult asthma.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Risk factors for asthma in Latin America
ETS = environmental tobacco smoke. GxE = gene-by-environment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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