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Impact of weather factors on influenza hospitalization across different age groups in subtropical Hong Kong

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Abstract

Accumulating evidence demonstrates the significant influence of weather factors, especially temperature and humidity, on influenza seasonality. However, it is still unclear whether temperature variation within the same day, that is diurnal temperature range (DTR), is related to influenza seasonality. In addition, the different effects of weather factors on influenza seasonality across age groups have not been well documented in previous studies. Our study aims to explore the effects of DTR and humidity on influenza seasonality, and the differences in the association between weather factors and influenza seasonality among different age groups in Hong Kong, China. Generalized additive models were conducted to flexibly assess the impact of DTR, absolute humidity (vapor pressure, VP), and relative humidity on influenza seasonality in Hong Kong, China, from January 2012 to December 2016. Stratified analyses were performed to determine if the effects of weather factors differ across age groups (< 5, 5–9, 10–64, and > 64 years). The results suggested that DTR, absolute humidity, and relative humidity were significantly related to influenza seasonality in dry period (when VP is less than 20 mb), while no significant association was found in humid period (when VP is greater than 20 mb). The percentage changes of hospitalization rates due to influenza associated with per unit increase of weather factors in the very young children (age 0–4) and the elderly (age 65+) were higher than that in the adults (age 10–64). Diurnal temperature range is significantly associated with influenza seasonality in dry period, and the effects of weather factors differ across age groups in Hong Kong, China.

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Abbreviations

AIC:

Akaike information criterion

DTR:

diurnal temperature range

GAM:

generalized additive regression model

LAB%:

laboratory-confirmed influenza-positive rate

RH:

relative humidity

VP:

vapor pressure

WS:

wind speed.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 11501124; 81602936).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China

    Yapeng Li, Xi-Ling Wang & Xueying Zheng

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  1. Yapeng Li
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  2. Xi-Ling Wang
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  3. Xueying Zheng
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the conception and/or design of this study, data interpretation, writing, and critical revision of the manuscript; and approved the final version to be published. YL contributed to the collection and analysis of the data.

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Correspondence to Xueying Zheng.

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Li, Y., Wang, XL. & Zheng, X. Impact of weather factors on influenza hospitalization across different age groups in subtropical Hong Kong. Int J Biometeorol 62, 1615–1624 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-018-1561-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-018-1561-z

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