Abstract
Introduction: In the last years considerable interest has developed around the link between air pollution and morbidity and mortality in children, especially as regards respiratory disease.
Aim: To evaluate the possible association between hospital admissions for bronchiolitis and air pollution from 2004 to 2014.
Methods: We included children < 1 year who attended Paediatric Emergency Department for bronchiolitis from 2004 to 2014. Every child performed a nasal washing for PCR-based test for respiratory virus detection. Air pollutants (sulfur dioxide-SO2, nitrogen oxide and dioxide-NO, NO2, carbon oxide-CO, ozone-OZ, Benzene-BZ, levels of suspended particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 mm-PM10 and less than 5 mm-PM2,5) were routinely measured by the ARPA Lazio monitoring network. We retained data from the urban monitoring sites near the residence of each recruited child.
Results: We studied 724 children(mean age 78.5±58.0 days; male: 395). Respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) was found in 233 children, Rhinovirus(RV) in 54, human bocavirus(hBoV) in 13, human metapneumovirus(hMPV) in 9, other viruses 11, co-infections in 35. Only RSV infection showed a peak activity during winter season (December-March). RSV positive cases showed a significant correlation with benzene(p<0.001), NO(p=0.001), NO2(p=0.02), PM 10(p<0,001) and PM 2,5(p<0.001) and negative correlation with OZ (p<0.001). No correlation between RV positive cases and air pollutants was found. NO and NO2 resulted the most predictive factors for RSV infection(p<0.05).
Conclusion: This study suggests that the seasonality of RSV and bronchiolitis, may be caused by the combination of seasonal weather conditions, air pollution and individual susceptibility.
- Copyright ©ERS 2015