Extract
Understanding the environmental drivers of influenza transmissibility would contribute to the early intervention and long-term control strategies of seasonal influenza, a serious public health problem that causes considerable morbidity and mortality each year. Within the burgeoning literature on influenza transmission, there are conflicting lines of evidence on the role of the environment [1]. Besides meteorological factors, it is also uncertain how common air pollutants such as ozone (O3), sulfur dioxides (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO) and particulate matter may affect influenza transmission [2]. The objective of our study was to examine the relationship of influenza transmissibility in Hong Kong with common air pollutants and other environmental factors, including ultraviolet radiation and absolute humidity.
Abstract
Higher levels of ambient ozone are associated with reduced influenza transmissibility http://ow.ly/zr9030j3Tcn
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Julie Au (The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China) for technical assistance.
Footnotes
Author contributions: B.J. Cowling and L. Tian designed the study. S.T. Ali, P. Wu, V.J. Fang and L. Tian collected the data. S.T. Ali analysed the data. S.T. Ali wrote the first draft of the manuscript, and all authors contributed to review and revision, and have seen and approved the final version.
Support statement: This work was financially supported by grants from the Health and Medical Research Fund, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (grant number U54 GM088558) and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (project number T11-705/14 N). D. He was supported by the Early Career Scheme from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (PolyU 251001/14M). Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
Conflict of interest: B.J. Cowling has received research funding from Sanofi Pasteur for a study of influenza vaccine effectiveness.
- Received October 24, 2017.
- Accepted February 27, 2018.
- Copyright ©ERS 2018
