However, evidence of an effect of environmental OC exposure on susceptibility to infection in children is scarce and inconsistent. To our knowledge, the first study addressing this question was conducted in the Great Lakes area (Smith 1984); the author observed that fish consumption during pregnancy (a proxy of PCB exposure) was positively associated with colds, earaches, and flu symptoms in infants. Rogan et al. (1987) followed 900 families in North Carolina (USA) between 1978 and 1982. They reviewed children’s medical charts and did not find any evidence of harmful effects of PCBs or DDE during the first year of life. In the Netherlands, Weisglas-Kuperus et al. (1995) observed no association between PCBs and the number of episodes of rhinitis, bronchitis, tonsillitis, and otitis during the first 18 months of life. However, in the same group of children at 42 months of age, current PCB burden was associated with a higher prevalence of recurrent middle ear infections and chicken pox (Weisglas-Kuperus et al. 2000). Karmaus et al. (2001) also observed a higher risk of otitis media, but the association was only present with the combined exposure to DDE and PCBs. Finally, our laboratory previously reported that exposed Inuit infants had a higher risk of acute otitis media during the first year of life (third tertile of exposure compared to the first) (Dewailly et al. 2000). The association was significant with exposure to DDE and HCB but remained above the unity for PCBs, dieldrin, and mirex.