Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke and Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia

We present the case reports of two children with a parasitic infestation associated with hypereosinophilia. One of those patients, who had been exposed to excessive second-hand tobacco smoke, was diagnosed as having acute eosinophilic pneumonia. The second patient had neither a history of exposure to second-hand smoke nor a prior diagnosis of acute eosinophilic pneumonia. We suggest that passive smoking may trigger acute eosinophilic pneumonia, a condition that develops frequently in children living in countries in which parasitic infestations and tobacco smoking are prevalent.