Chronic PM2.5 exposure and risk of infant bronchiolitis and otitis media clinical encounters

Abstract

Chronic particulate matter less than 2.5μm in diameter (PM2.5) exposure can leave infants more susceptible to illness. Our objective is to estimate associations of the chronic PM2.5 exposure with infant bronchiolitis and otitis media (OM) clinical encounters. We obtained all first time bronchiolitis (n=18,029) and OM (n=40,042) clinical encounters among children less than 12 and 36 months of age, respectively, diagnosed from 2001–2009 and two controls per case matched on birthdate and gestational age from the Pregnancy to Early Life Longitudinal data linkage system in Massachusetts. We applied conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) per 2-μg/m3 increase in lifetime average satellite based PM2.5 exposure. Effect modification was assessed by age, gestational age, frequency of clinical encounter, and income. We examined associations between residential distance to roadways, traffic density, and infant bronchiolitis and OM risk. PM2.5 was not associated with infant bronchiolitis (OR = 1.02, 95% CI = 1.00, 1.04) and inversely associated with OM (OR= 0.97, 95% CI = 0.95, 0.99). There was no evidence of effect modification. Compared to infants living near low traffic density, infants residing in high traffic density had elevated risk of bronchiolitis (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.14, 1.31) but not OM (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.93, 1.02) clinical encounter. We did not find strong evidence to support an association between early-life long-term PM2.5 exposure and infant bronchiolitis or OM. Bronchiolitis risk was increased among infants living near high traffic density.

Associations of mobile source air pollution during the first year of life with childhood pneumonia, bronchiolitis, and otitis media

“…In British Columbia, Canada, infants living within 50 meters of a highway had a 6% higher risk of bronchiolitis diagnosis, and infants living within 150 m of a highway had a 14% higher risk of hospitalization for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis infection; however, the confidence intervals for both estimates included the null 15, 16 . Another proximity study observed a statistically significant increased risk of bronchiolitis clinical encounters for infants living in areas of dense traffic, but found chronic PM 2.5 exposure alone was not meaningfully associated with infant bronchiolitis 17 . A meta-analysis of 10 European birth cohorts found elevated and statistically significant associations between NO 2 and PM 10 with pneumonia in early childhood, but not PM 2.5 18 .…”

Characterization of Fine Particulate Matter and Associated Health Burden in Nanjing

“…PM 2.5 have been proven to be the triggers for a variety of illnesses, such as bronchitis, asthma, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cardiovascular disease [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified outdoor air pollution and air pollution-derived PM as carcinogenic to humans.…”

The effect of outdoor air pollution on the risk of hospitalisation for bronchiolitis in infants: a systematic review

“…One case control study (Girguis et al, 2017) evaluated lifetime exposure of PM2.5 on risk of clinical encounter for bronchiolitis and found no association.…”

“…Eight studies (including four case control studies and four case crossover studies Abdul Rahman et al, 2017 ; Girguis et al, 2017 ; Karr et al, 2004 , 2006 , 2007 , 2009a , 2009b ; Segala et al, 2008 ) were eligible for our review. The review flowchart is shown in Fig.…”

“…Six of the studies were from overlapping research groups in North America ( Girguis et al, 2017 ; Karr et al, 2004 , 2006 , 2007 , 2009a , 2009b ), one from France ( Segala et al, 2008 ) and one from Malaysia ( Abdul Rahman et al, 2017 ) a developing country. The study characteristics are summarised in Table 2 .…”