Higher infection rate for babies who swim in first year

LETTING infants swim in pools during the first year of life may increase the risk of diarrhoea and middle ear infections, a new study has found.

But it may not increase their risk of atopic diseases, such as asthma and eczema.

Scientists who examined more than 2,000 children found that those who did not attend swimming pools in their first year had a much lower rate of infection, particularly diarrhoea.

Study author Dr Joachim Heinrich, of the National Research Centre for Environment and Health in Germany, said that allowing babies to swim was previously thought to be harmless with regard to infections.

The babies that had not taken part in swimming as infants showed a much lower infection rate during the first year of life, especially with diarrhoea.

But no unequivocal connection could be made between frequent swimming-pool visits and atopic diseases up to the age of six years.

Earlier this year, however, Belgian researchers warned that the chlorine in swimming pools might have an adverse effect on children’s lungs. The researchers, led by Dr Alfred Bernard of the public health department at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, said the chemicals used in pools could harm an infant’s lungs and could lead to problems with lung development and possibly make children asthmatic.

The study, published in Paediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics, examined 341 Belgian school children aged about 11 years.

Following blood and lung health tests Dr Bernard’s team noticed that 43 of the children had taken infant swimming lessons in indoor pools.

According to the study, the lungs of children who had infant swimming lessons appeared to be predisposed to developing asthma and recurrent bronchitis.