Smoking Cited in Iraq Pneumonia Cases [View All]

WASHINGTON - Most of the soldiers in and around Iraq (news - web sites) with unexplained, severe pneumonia had taken up smoking shortly before falling ill, military medical authorities said Tuesday.

The military is investigating 19 cases of severe pneumonia since March, including two fatalities. Four of those cases were linked to bacterial infections. Of the remaining 15, 10 patients, including the two who died, had elevated levels of a certain type of white blood cells.

Nine of the 10 reported they had started smoking recently, said Col. Bob DeFraites, a top Army medical officer. It's unclear whether smoking caused or contributed to the pneumonia, but since tobacco smoke damages lungs, it's a chief suspect, DeFraites said.

"It may be a combination of the desert deployment with heat and dust and everything else in conjunction with the smoking," DeFraites told reporters in a telephone conference call. "It's not a coincidence, the association with smoking. ... It's a known irritant for lungs and a known risk factor for pneumonia in general. It may be sensitizing the lungs for the pneumonia."

more…
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=519&u=/ap/20030909/ap_on_re_us/soldier_illness_4&printer=1