oa Effect of air pollution following Gulf war on asthmatic patients in Qatar

This is a retrospective study of the effect of air pollution on Pediatric asthmatic patients in Qatar following the second Gulf war in 1991. A comparison study of four months of the same period in 1990 before the war; 1991 through the presence of air pollution and 1992 following the end of air pollution showed a significant increase of asthmatic visits to the emergency center in 1991, almost double the number of the previous year, The number decreased significantly in 1992 following the end of the air pollution.

The male to female asthmatic ratio was 2.37:1 and Qatari to non-Qatari asthmatic visit ratio was 2.1:1. The temperature fall was about 1-2 degrees centigrade during the air Pollution, and no change in humidity was noticed during the three periods studied.