Author:
Dales Robert,Lukina Anna O.,Romero-Meza Rafael,Blanco-Vidal Claudia,Cakmak Sabit
Abstract
AbstractMorbidity and mortality from several diseases are increased on days of higher ambient air pollution. We carried out a daily time-series analysis with distributive lags to study the influence of short-term air pollution exposure on COVID-19 related hospitalization in Santiago, Chile between March 16 and August 31, 2020. Analyses were adjusted for temporal trends, ambient temperature, and relative humidity, and stratified by age and sex. 26,579 COVID-19 hospitalizations were recorded of which 24,501 were laboratory confirmed. The cumulative percent change in hospitalizations (95% confidence intervals) for an interquartile range increase in air pollutants were: 1.1 (0.2, 2.0) for carbon monoxide (CO), 0.30 (0.0, 0.50) for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and 2.7 (1.9, 3.0) for particulate matter of diameter ≤ 2.5 microns (PM2.5). Associations with ozone (O3), particulate matter of diameter ≤ 10 microns (PM10) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) were not significant. The observed effect of PM2.5 was significantly greater for females and for those individuals ≥ 65 years old. This study provides evidence that daily increases in air pollution, especially PM2.5, result in a higher observed risk of hospitalization from COVID-19. Females and the elderly may be disproportionately affected.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference45 articles.
1. World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus disease (COVID_19) pandemic. Available from https://covid19.who.int/, Accessed July 2023 (2023).
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). COVID Data Tracker. Available from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#hospitalizations-landing, Accessed on July 2023 (2023).
3. Carrillo-Vega, M. F. et al. Early estimation of the risk factors for hospitalization and mortality by COVID-19 in Mexico. PLoS One 15(9), e0238905. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238905/ (2020).
4. Petrilli, C. M. et al. Factors associated with hospital admissions and critical illness among 5,279 people with coronavirus disease 2019 in New York City: Prospective cohort study. BMJ 369, m1996 (2020).
5. Reilev, M. et al. Characteristics and predictors of hospitalization and death in the first 11: 122 cases with positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 in Denmark: A nationwide cohort. Int. J. Epidemiol. 49(5), 1468–1481 (2020).