Photo/Illutration In a new study, Hiroshima University Hospital researchers called for developing medical systems to address the growing frequency of natural disasters resulting in more children developing asthma. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

A research group from Hiroshima University has found an increase in bronchial asthma among children affected by the torrential rains in July 2018 that devastated western Japan, particularly in Hiroshima Prefecture.

The study, published in the medical journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, analyzed data from more than 1 million health insurance claims.

While doctors had previously noted worsening asthma in children following natural disasters, this large-scale epidemiological study provided evidence supporting those observations.

The study highlights the growing frequency of natural disasters and emphasized the need to develop medical systems that account for the increased risk and worsening of asthma in children during such events.

Natural disasters expose victims to air pollution, changes in living conditions and physical and mental stress.

These are considered risks for bronchial asthma, and experts have long warned about their heightened impact on children. However, large-scale research on this is limited.

The research group analyzed health insurance claims data from three prefectures―Hiroshima, Okayama and Ehime―over a one-year period following the western Japan floods.

The study examined the number of prescriptions for asthma inhalers among 1,073,170 subjects under the age of 19.

It found that 287, or 6.5 percent, of the 4,425 children officially recognized as disaster victims were newly prescribed asthma inhalers within the year after the floods, compared with 59,469, or 5.6 percent, of the 1,068,745 unaffected children.

After adjusting for factors such as age and gender, the study found that children impacted by the disaster were 1.3 time more likely to develop asthma compared to those who were not. The increased risk of asthma persisted for up to a year after the disaster, not just in the immediate aftermath. 

“Children are vulnerable in disasters because they can’t always express their symptoms, and their limited physical strength puts them at higher risk of quickly becoming seriously ill,” said Shu Utsumi, a research assistant professor of emergency intensive care medicine at Hiroshima University.

“Asthma is also the most common chronic illness in children, so I think it’s necessary for each region to ensure an adequate supply of medicine to disaster-hit areas and to secure access routes to hospitals that can treat these patients,” he said.

The full study can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2023-065381

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