The study, which was published in the Medical Journal of Australia, reported that of the 79 unborn children during the fire, who were studied between two and four years after the Morwell fire in 2014 had increased incidences of coughing, wheezing, and cases of respiratory infections.
Young children exposed to the smoke from the fire were found to be less affected, but the children used asthma inhalers more often, the study also revealed.
A study found unborn babies whose mothers were exposed to the major Morwell coal mine fire in 2014 were at greater risk of acquiring respiratory infections in their childhood.
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Climate Change Impacts on Pregnant Women and Young Children
The study compared the parental reports on the effects of air pollution to 81 children exposed to the smoke, and the unborn children whose symptoms showed years later. The health of children born from mothers exposed from the fire smoke, and children not exposed to the fire were also examined and compared.
Dr. Fay Johnston of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania led the research. She and her team warned that climate change had fanned increased incidences of bushfires, thereby exposing more people to smoke and making pregnant mothers and their unborn children more vulnerable.
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Significance of the Study
There had been several studies on the impacts on the health of long-term exposure to air pollution. Still, little there are very few studies on the effects on the health of short-term exposure to air pollution on high levels, especially on pregnant women, according to the Deputy Director of the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and a co-author of the study.
The authors also warn that climate change would likely bring more severe air pollution incidences from bushfires. Thus pregnant women and young children should be given utmost consideration in public health responses.
Dr. Jo McDubbin, a pediatrician, said that the findings are significant because it indicates that children and the families of those affected by the fires cannot be ignored. The study also affects entire Australia because of the impact of the recent bushfires, she added.
The Hazelwood Coal Mine Fire in Morwell
The fire started on February 9, 2014, from an act of arson that ignited a fire in the entire Morwell. The smoke from the fire blanketed the community as a whole. The town experienced inferior air quality from the smoke and ashes for 20 days prompting officials to advise vulnerable people such as young children, pregnant women, and people with respiratory diseases to leave the area as the fire was expected to burn for two more weeks. The fire was contained on March 25, 45 days since it started.
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