Right now, the main road is unregulated - anyone with a license and a van can offer public transportation, for example. “The main thing is, we need to be thinking of policy measures that can put tighter controls on traffic there,” Checkley said.

He noted that Peru has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the world, with one-quarter of children there affected.

The current study is part of an effort to understand why that is, Checkley said. So far, the research suggests that air pollution, in general, could be a major reason, he noted.

But the findings are also relevant for other countries, according to Checkley.

Curbing kids’ exposure to traffic in busy urban areas of developed countries is more challenging, he noted. “But we need to find better ways of diverting heavy traffic away from residential areas,” Checkley said.

SOURCE:Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, online January 18, 2011.