TUESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Many adults exposed to the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks developed asthma or post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, according to a study in the Aug. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Robert M. Brackbill, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed data from 46,322 adults exposed to the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks (rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, lower Manhattan office workers, and passersby) who were surveyed in 2006 to 2007 regarding self-reported new asthma diagnoses and event-related PTS symptoms.

The researchers found that 10.2 percent of adults with no history of asthma reported developing asthma after the attacks. Intense dust cloud exposure increased the likelihood of a new asthma diagnosis. Rescue and recovery workers on the World Trade Center pile on September 11 had the highest asthma risk at 20.5 percent. The authors further note that, among adults with no history of PTS, 19.1 percent reported PTS symptoms after the attacks, while passersby had the highest rate of symptoms at 23.2 percent.

"Acute intense exposures as well as prolonged exposures resulted in a large burden of asthma and PTS symptoms five to six years after the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center terrorist attack," Brackbill and colleagues conclude. "Our study highlights the need for surveillance, outreach, treatment, and evaluation of efforts for many years following a disaster to prevent and mitigate health consequences."

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