Systematic review and meta‐analysis of the associations between indoor air pollution and tuberculosis

Abstract

Abstractobjective Half the world's population uses biomass fuel for their daily needs but the resultant emissions and indoor air pollution (IAP) are harmful to health. So far, evidence for a link between IAP and tuberculosis (TB) was insufficient. We report an updated systematic review due to recent increase in the evidence and growing interest in testing interventions.methods Systematic search of PubMed (including Medline), CAB abstracts (through Ovid SP) and Web of Knowledge using the following search terms: 'IAP or biomass or cooking smoke' and 'TB'. 452 abstracts were reviewed, and only 12 articles were deemed to be reporting the effects of IAP on TB and were taken forward to full review, and one study was added through hand search of references. Data on measures of effect of IAP on TB were extracted, and meta-analysis was carried out to estimate pooled measures of effect.results Thirteen studies have reported investigating association between IAP and TB since 1996. TB cases are more likely to be exposed to IAP than healthy controls (pooled OR 1.30; 95% CI, 1.04 -1.62; P = 0.02).conclusions There is increasingly strong evidence for an association between IAP and TB. Further studies are needed to understand the burden of TB attributable to IAP. Interventions such as clean cook stoves to reduce the adverse effects of IAP merit rigorous evaluation, particularly in Africa and India where the prevalence of IAP and TB is high.

Old World tuberculosis: Evidence from human remains with a review of current research and future prospects

“…Tuberculosis is classed as a disease of poverty today 22 and a poor diet can compromise immune system strength and make people more susceptible to contracting TB. Furthermore, a rise in poor air quality both indoors and outdoors occurred at this time, which can predispose the lungs to being more susceptible to attack by tuberculosis 23 .…”

Hut Lung Disease: A Radiological and Pathological Correlation

“…The findings associating hut lung disease with pulmonary tuberculosis have been varied with several authors reporting insufficient, and weak evidence associating the two [12][13][14], while Sumpter et al argues that the more recent body of evidence suggests otherwise [15]. Exposure to tobacco smoke, poverty and over-crowding are several plausible reasons associated with both biomass fuel use, and pulmonary tuberculosis with a reasonable inference that the most indigent population from developing nations who can only afford biomass fuel as a form of combustion is the very same cohort at the highest risk for tuberculosis for aforementioned reasons [12,13,15,16].…”

“…Exposure to tobacco smoke, poverty and over-crowding are several plausible reasons associated with both biomass fuel use, and pulmonary tuberculosis with a reasonable inference that the most indigent population from developing nations who can only afford biomass fuel as a form of combustion is the very same cohort at the highest risk for tuberculosis for aforementioned reasons [12,13,15,16]. Nevertheless, it was agreed that further studies are required to understand the association of HAP with pulmonary tuberculosis.…”

Disease Control and Inequality Reduction: Evidence from a Tuberculosis Testing and Vaccination Campaign

“…Medical literature links childhood tuberculosis to exposure to passive smoking and both indoor and outdoor air pollution (Sumpter and Chandramohan, 2013;Hwang, Kang, Lee, Lee, Kim, Han, and Yim, 2014). In particular, the burning of biomass fuels such as wood is an important concern.…”