Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis
Abstract Background A pertinent risk factor of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and pneumonia is the exposure to major ambient air pollutants, with short term exposures to different air pollutants being shown to exacerbate several respiratory conditions. Methods Here, using disease surveil...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2023-06-01
|
| Series: | BMC Infectious Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-023-08185-0 |
| _version_ | 1797806847890030592 |
|---|---|
| author | Esther Li Wen Choo A. Janhavi Joel Ruihan Koo Steve H. L. Yim Borame L Dickens Jue Tao Lim |
| author_facet | Esther Li Wen Choo A. Janhavi Joel Ruihan Koo Steve H. L. Yim Borame L Dickens Jue Tao Lim |
| author_sort | Esther Li Wen Choo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background A pertinent risk factor of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and pneumonia is the exposure to major ambient air pollutants, with short term exposures to different air pollutants being shown to exacerbate several respiratory conditions. Methods Here, using disease surveillance data comprising of reported disease case counts at the province level, high frequency ambient air pollutant and climate data in Thailand, we delineated the association between ambient air pollution and URTI/Pneumonia burden in Thailand from 2000 – 2022. We developed mixed-data sampling methods and estimation strategies to account for the high frequency nature of ambient air pollutant concentration data. This was used to evaluate the effects past concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) and the number of disease case count, after controlling for the confounding meteorological and disease factors. Results Across provinces, we found that past increases in CO, SO2, and PM2.5 concentration were associated to changes in URTI and pneumonia case counts, but the direction of their association mixed. The contributive burden of past ambient air pollutants on contemporaneous disease burden was also found to be larger than meteorological factors, and comparable to that of disease related factors. Conclusions By developing a novel statistical methodology, we prevented subjective variable selection and discretization bias to detect associations, and provided a robust estimate on the effect of ambient air pollutants on URTI and pneumonia burden over a large spatial scale. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:13:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f45a6cc89514139b3a6222d10fa8d1d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2334 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:13:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Infectious Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f45a6cc89514139b3a6222d10fa8d1d2023-06-11T11:06:38ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342023-06-0123111310.1186/s12879-023-08185-0Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysisEsther Li Wen Choo0A. Janhavi1Joel Ruihan Koo2Steve H. L. Yim3Borame L Dickens4Jue Tao Lim5Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of SingaporeSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of SingaporeSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of SingaporeLee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological UniversitySaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of SingaporeSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of SingaporeAbstract Background A pertinent risk factor of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) and pneumonia is the exposure to major ambient air pollutants, with short term exposures to different air pollutants being shown to exacerbate several respiratory conditions. Methods Here, using disease surveillance data comprising of reported disease case counts at the province level, high frequency ambient air pollutant and climate data in Thailand, we delineated the association between ambient air pollution and URTI/Pneumonia burden in Thailand from 2000 – 2022. We developed mixed-data sampling methods and estimation strategies to account for the high frequency nature of ambient air pollutant concentration data. This was used to evaluate the effects past concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) and the number of disease case count, after controlling for the confounding meteorological and disease factors. Results Across provinces, we found that past increases in CO, SO2, and PM2.5 concentration were associated to changes in URTI and pneumonia case counts, but the direction of their association mixed. The contributive burden of past ambient air pollutants on contemporaneous disease burden was also found to be larger than meteorological factors, and comparable to that of disease related factors. Conclusions By developing a novel statistical methodology, we prevented subjective variable selection and discretization bias to detect associations, and provided a robust estimate on the effect of ambient air pollutants on URTI and pneumonia burden over a large spatial scale.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-023-08185-0Upper respiratory tract infectionsPneumoniaAmbient air pollutantsWeatherEnvironmental epidemiologyMixed data sampling methods |
| spellingShingle | Esther Li Wen Choo A. Janhavi Joel Ruihan Koo Steve H. L. Yim Borame L Dickens Jue Tao Lim Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis BMC Infectious Diseases Upper respiratory tract infections Pneumonia Ambient air pollutants Weather Environmental epidemiology Mixed data sampling methods |
| title | Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis |
| title_full | Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis |
| title_fullStr | Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis |
| title_short | Association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in Thailand from 2000 to 2022: a high frequency ecological analysis |
| title_sort | association between ambient air pollutants and upper respiratory tract infection and pneumonia disease burden in thailand from 2000 to 2022 a high frequency ecological analysis |
| topic | Upper respiratory tract infections Pneumonia Ambient air pollutants Weather Environmental epidemiology Mixed data sampling methods |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-023-08185-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT estherliwenchoo associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis AT ajanhavi associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis AT joelruihankoo associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis AT stevehlyim associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis AT borameldickens associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis AT juetaolim associationbetweenambientairpollutantsandupperrespiratorytractinfectionandpneumoniadiseaseburdeninthailandfrom2000to2022ahighfrequencyecologicalanalysis |