Chronic respiratory disease problem for Imperial Valley children - | News for Yuma, Imperial Valley, El Centro, AZ & CA

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) - Children with asthma are far more likely to visit the emergency room if they live in Imperial County and doctors aren't sure why.           

One in five children in Imperial County has been diagnosed with a chronic respiratory disease. The California Department of Public Health says children there go to ER for asthma at a rate three times higher than the state's average.           

One 8-year-old, Marco Cisneros, tells the Los Angeles Times that he's visited the hospital nearly 50 times.

Experts suggest that dust, some of it laden with pesticides, may exacerbate asthma problems, along with pollution from neighboring Mexico, and the poor who lack health insurance may turn to ERs to obtain care.