Air Pollution Exposure Linked to Pneumonia in Children

FRIDAY, Nov. 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Environmental exposures such as fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) are associated with residence in high-risk areas for community-acquired pneumonia in children, according to a study published online Oct. 29 in Experimental Biology & Medicine.

Tonny J. Oyana, Ph.D., from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and colleagues examined the geospatial patterns of community-acquired pneumonia and the impact of PM_2.5 on geospatial variability of pneumonia in children in a retrospective cohort study. The mean PM_2.5 during the study period was 10.75 µg/m³; high PM_2.5 was defined as exposure to PM_2.5 concentrations >10.75 µg/m³.

A total of 220 of the 810 patients with radiographic community-acquired pneumonia were identified as being from high- or low-risk areas for community-acquired pneumonia (126 and 94, respectively). In the Memphis metropolitan area, community-acquired pneumonia had a nonhomogenous geospatial pattern. There was an association observed for PM_2.5 with residence in high-risk areas for community-acquired pneumonia. The risk for residence in a high-risk area for community-acquired pneumonia was decreased for children with private insurance and bacterial (as opposed to viral) etiology of infection.

“The fact that we saw increased risk for pediatric pneumonia at PM_2.5 levels lower than what is currently allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a concern and signals the need for continuous review and policy adjustment based on health effects evidence and exposure or risk information such as this,” a coauthor said in a statement.

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