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Air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children in Ningbo, China: A time-series analysis

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Abstract

Acute upper and lower respiratory infections are main causes of mortality and morbidity in children. Air pollution has been recognized as an important contributor to development and exacerbation of respiratory infections. However, few studies are available in China. In this study, we investigated the short-term effect of air pollution on hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children under 15 years in Ningbo, China. Poisson generalized models were used to estimate the associations between air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections adjusted for temporal, seasonal, and meteorological effects. We found that four pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and SO2) were significantly associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections. The effect estimates for acute upper respiratory infections tended to be higher (PM2.5 ER = 3.46, 95% CI 2.18, 4.76; PM10 ER = 2.81, 95% CI 1.93, 3.69; NO2 ER = 11.27, 95% CI 8.70, 13.89; SO2 ER = 15.17, 95% CI 11.29, 19.19). Significant associations for gaseous pollutants (NO2 and SO2) were observed after adjustment for particular matter. Stronger associations were observed among older children and in the cold period. Our study suggested that short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution was associated with hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections in Ningbo.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partly supported by the Air Pollution and Health Research Center, Zhejiang University (Grant: 519600-I21502). The sponsors had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, C217 Academic Building, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Xihu District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China

    Pei-wen Zheng, Jian-bing Wang, Die Li, Ming-juan Jin, Meng-Ling Tang & Kun Chen

  2. Research Center for Air Pollution and Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310058, China

    Jian-bing Wang & Kun Chen

  3. John Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA

    Zhen-yu Zhang

  4. Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Yinzhou District, 1221 Xueshi Road, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315100, China

    Peng Shen, Peng-fei Chai, Huai-chu Lu & Hong-bo Lin

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  1. Pei-wen Zheng
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  2. Jian-bing Wang
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  3. Zhen-yu Zhang
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  4. Peng Shen
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  6. Die Li
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  7. Ming-juan Jin
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  8. Meng-Ling Tang
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  9. Huai-chu Lu
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  10. Hong-bo Lin
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  11. Kun Chen
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Correspondence to Hong-bo Lin or Kun Chen.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Pei-wen Zheng and Jian-bing Wang contributed equally to this work.

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Zheng, Pw., Wang, Jb., Zhang, Zy. et al. Air pollution and hospital visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections among children in Ningbo, China: A time-series analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 18860–18869 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9279-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9279-8

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