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Li C, Jiang X, Wei Y, Wang Y, Lao X, Yue Q, Chong KC. Air pollutants, seasonal influenza, and acute otitis media in children: a population-based analysis using 22-year hospitalization data. BMC Public Health 2024; 24:1581. [PMID: 38867184 PMCID: PMC11170825 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-18962-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Acute otitis media (AOM) is a prevalent childhood acute illness, with 13.6 million pediatric office visits annually, often stemming from upper respiratory tract infections (URI) and affected by environmental factors like air pollution and cold seasons. METHODS Herein, we made use of territory-wide hospitalization data to investigate the relationships between meteorological factors, air pollutants, influenza infection, and AOM for children observed from 1998 to 2019 in Hong Kong. Quasi-Poisson generalized additive model, combined with a distributed-lag non-linear model, was employed to examine the relationship between weekly AOM admissions in children and weekly influenza-like illness-positive (ILI +) rates, as well as air pollutants (i.e., oxidant gases, sulfur dioxide, and fine particulate matter), while accounting for meteorological variations. RESULTS There were 21,224 hospital admissions due to AOM for children aged ≤ 15 years throughout a 22-year period. The cumulative adjusted relative risks (ARR) of AOM were 1.15 (95% CI, 1.04-1.28) and 1.07 (95% CI, 0.97-1.18) at the 95th percentile concentration of oxidant gases (65.9 ppm) and fine particulate matter (62.2 μg/m3) respectively, with reference set to their medians of concentration. The ARRs exhibited a monotone increasing trend for all-type and type-specific ILI + rates. Setting the reference to zero, the cumulative ARRs of AOM rose to 1.42 (95% CI, 1.29-1.56) at the 95th percentile of ILI + Total rate, and to 1.07 (95% CI, 1.01-1.14), 1.19 (95% CI, 1.11-1.27), and 1.22 (95% CI, 1.13-1.32) for ILI + A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggested that policy on air pollution control and influenza vaccination for children need to be implemented, which might have significant implications for preventing AOM in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conglu Li
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Xiaoting Jiang
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yuchen Wei
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
- Clinical Trials and Biostatistics Laboratory, Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yawen Wang
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Xiangqian Lao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Qianying Yue
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
| | - Ka Chun Chong
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
- Clinical Trials and Biostatistics Laboratory, Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China.
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
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Jiang X, Li C, Yue Q, Wei Y, Wang Y, Lao XQ, Lin G, Chong KC. Effect of environmental exposome and influenza infection on febrile seizure in children over 22 years: a time series analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2024:10.1007/s00484-024-02711-8. [PMID: 38819443 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-024-02711-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2023] [Revised: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Febrile seizures are convulsions predominately occurring in young children. The effects of various exposomes, including influenza infection and external environmental factors, on febrile seizures have not been well-studied. In this study, we elucidated the relationships between ambient temperature, air pollutants, influenza infection, and febrile seizures using 22-year territory-wide hospitalization data in Hong Kong. The aggregated data were matched with the meteorological records and air pollutant concentrations. All-type and type-specific influenza-like illness positive (ILI+) rates were used as proxies for influenza activity. Distributed lag non-linear model in conjunction with the quasi-poisson generalized additive model was used to examine the associations of interest. According to the results, all-type influenza infections were significantly associated with an increased risk of hospital admissions for febrile seizures (cumulative adjusted relative risk [ARR] = 1.59 at 95th percentile vs. 0; 95% CI, 1.51-1.68). The effect of ILI + A/H3N2 on febrile seizure was more pronounced than other type-specific ILI + rates. A low mean ambient temperature was identified as a significant risk factor for febrile seizures (cumulative ARR = 1.50 at 5th percentile vs. median; 95% CI, 1.35-1.66), while the redox-weighted oxidant capacity and sulfur dioxide were not associated with febrile seizures. In conclusion, our study underscores that influenza infections and exposure to cold conditions were related to an increased risk of febrile seizures in children. Thus, we advocate for influenza vaccination before the onset of the cold season for children to mitigate the burden of febrile seizures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoting Jiang
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
| | - Conglu Li
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
| | - Qianying Yue
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
| | - Yuchen Wei
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yawen Wang
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
| | - Xiang Qian Lao
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Guozhang Lin
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China
| | - Ka Chun Chong
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, China.
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
- Clinical Trials and Biostatistics Laboratory, Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China.
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Ji Y, Huang Z, Yuan Z, Xiong J, Li L. Exposure to low humidex increases the risk of hip fracture admissions in a subtropical coastal Chinese city. Bone 2024; 181:117032. [PMID: 38307177 DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The adverse impacts of meteorological factors on human health have attracted great attention. However, no studies have investigated the nonlinear effects of humidex on hip fractures (HF), particularly in middle-aged and older adults. This study aimed to quantify the impacts of humidex, a comprehensive index of temperature and relative humidity, on HF admissions. METHODS Daily HF admissions, meteorological variables and air pollutants in the subtropical coastal city of Shantou, China, from 2015 to 2020 were collected. A generalized linear regression model combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model was applied to explore the exposure-lag-response relationship between humidex and HF admissions. Subgroup analyses were also conducted by gender, age and season. Attributable fractions (AF) and attributable numbers (AN) were used to represent the burden of disease. RESULTS A total of 6200 HF admissions were identified during the study period. Taking the median humidex (31.9) as a reference, the single-day lag effects of low humidex (13, 2.5th percentile) were significant at lag 0 [relative risk (RR) = 1.145, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.041-1.259] to lag 2 (RR = 1.049, 95 % CI: 1.010-1.089). The cumulative lag effects of low humidex were significant at lag 0-0 (RR = 1.145, 95 % CI: 1.041-1.259) to lag 0-6 (RR = 1.258, 95 % CI: 1.010-1.567) and reached a maximum at lag 0-3 (RR = 1.330, 95 % CI: 1.113-1.590). High humidex (44, 97.5th percentile) was not associated with the risk of HF. Females and people over the age of 75 appeared to be more susceptible to low humidex. In addition, the adverse effects of low humidex were more pronounced in the cold season. The AF and AN of low humidex on HF admissions were 24.8 % (95 % CI: 10.2-37.1 %) and 1538, respectively. CONCLUSION Low humidex was associated with an increased risk of HF admissions. The government should take timely measures to prevent people from being exposed to low humidex to effectively reduce HF admissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanhu Ji
- School of Public Health, Shantou University, 515063 Shantou, China
| | - Zepeng Huang
- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, 515041 Shantou, China
| | | | - Jianping Xiong
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, 515041 Shantou, China
| | - Liping Li
- School of Public Health, Shantou University, 515063 Shantou, China.
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Chong KC, Chan PKS, Lee TC, Lau SYF, Wu P, Lai CKC, Fung KSC, Tse CWS, Leung SY, Kwok KL, Li C, Jiang X, Wei Y. Determining meteorologically-favorable zones for seasonal influenza activity in Hong Kong. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOMETEOROLOGY 2023; 67:609-619. [PMID: 36847884 DOI: 10.1007/s00484-023-02439-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Investigations of simple and accurate meteorology classification systems for influenza epidemics, particularly in subtropical regions, are limited. To assist in preparing for potential upsurges in the demand on healthcare facilities during influenza seasons, our study aims to develop a set of meteorologically-favorable zones for epidemics of influenza A and B, defined as the intervals of meteorological variables with prediction performance optimized. We collected weekly detection rates of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases from four local major hospitals in Hong Kong between 2004 and 2019. Meteorological and air quality records for hospitals were collected from their closest monitoring stations. We employed classification and regression trees to identify zones that optimize the prediction performance of meteorological data in influenza epidemics, defined as a weekly rate > 50th percentile over a year. According to the results, a combination of temperature > 25.1℃ and relative humidity > 79% was favorable to epidemics in hot seasons, whereas either temperature < 16.4℃ or a combination of < 20.4℃ and relative humidity > 76% was favorable to epidemics in cold seasons. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in model training achieved 0.80 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76-0.83) and was kept at 0.71 (95%CI, 0.65-0.77) in validation. The meteorologically-favorable zones for predicting influenza A or A and B epidemics together were similar, but the AUC for predicting influenza B epidemics was comparatively lower. In conclusion, we established meteorologically-favorable zones for influenza A and B epidemics with a satisfactory prediction performance, even though the influenza seasonality in this subtropical setting was weak and type-specific.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ka Chun Chong
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Paul K S Chan
- Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Tsz Cheung Lee
- Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Steven Y F Lau
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Peng Wu
- School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Christopher K C Lai
- Department of Microbiology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Kitty S C Fung
- Department of Pathology, United Christian Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Cindy W S Tse
- Department of Pathology, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Shuk Yu Leung
- Department of Paediatrics, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Ka Li Kwok
- Department of Paediatrics, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Conglu Li
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Xiaoting Jiang
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China
| | - Yuchen Wei
- Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
- Centre for Health Systems and Policy Research, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
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