Impact of Environmental, Familial Factors, and Immune Response Markers in Asthma Severity and Prevalence in Asthmatic Children

Abstract Background: Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that causes airway inflammation leading to shortness of breath, wheezing, and whooping triggered by allergen. Objective: This study aimed to construct environmental, familial, and biomarkers to predict asthma control in Children. Patients and Methods: A total of 63 children, including 42 females and 21 males with asthma and aged between 1 and 16 years, attended the respiratory clinic at Karbala Pediatric Hospital with an n = 60 control group, including 32 males and 28 females of the same age. Total immunoglobulin E (IgE) was measured using Eliza’s kit, and eosinophil count was measured by five automated hematology analyzers. Results: In the present study, out of 63 children, only 11.7% of the asthmatic patients had eczema with highly significant P < 0.001, χ 2 = 57.76. While 58.3% of patients also had allergic rhinitis compared to 40% without it. This difference is highly significant P < 0.001, χ 2 = 14.735. Moreover, higher prevalence of eczema 23.3% and allergic rhinitis 78.3% compared to nonasthmatic groups. Moreover, statistically significant relationships were found with P < 0.001 for both, χ 2 =29.160 and χ 2 =31.360; previous illnesses of asthma showed a definite relationship to children having asthma ( P = 0. 016; χ 2 =5.760). This confirms the county genetics of asthma. In a past study, we also found that smoking exposure in families was not associated with childhood asthma ( P = 0.689, χ 2 =0.160) and the history of viral infection was a highly significant factor with relevance to childhood asthma with 75% of children being attacked ( P < 0.001, χ 2 =25.000). The risk identified from dust exposure prevalence in asthmatic children was 66.7% ( P = 0.001, χ 2 =11.560). According to the gender, the study showed that, out of the 30 children, 20 were males (66.67%) while females were only 10 (33.33%); this was a significant result χ 2 =4.500 P = 0.034. The eosinophils count was significantly higher in asthmatic children (mean 5.63%) as compared to the healthy children (mean 1.86%) with very high statistical significance ( P < 0.001). Similarly, the mean serum IgE of asthmatic children was higher (334.9 IU/ml) as compared to the healthy children (80.9 IU/ml) with very high statistical significance (P < The general blood tests show high eosinophils and IgE levels are allergy in asthma). Conclusion: The study revealed asthmatic children had higher eosinophil count and serum IgE than control ( P < 0.001), suggesting immunologic involvement in the asthmatic process. The present study, therefore, recommends genetic, environmental, and immunologic factor assessment and prevention of childhood asthma since the areas pointed out have a high potential for susceptible asthma risk.