Abstract
No study has ever investigated how ambient temperature and PM2.5 mediate rotavirus infection (RvI) in children. We used insurance claims data from Taiwan in 2006–2012 to evaluate the RvI characteristics in children aged ≤ 9. The RvI incidence rates were higher in colder months, reach-ing the highest in March (117.0/100 days), and then declining to the lowest in July (29.2/100 days). The age–sex-specific average incident cases were all higher in boys than in girls. Stratified analysis by temperature (<20, 20–24, and ≥25◦C) and PM2.5 (<17.5, 17.5–31.4, 31.5–41.9, and ≥42.0 µg/m3 ) showed that the highest incidence was 16.4/100 days at average temperatures of <20◦C and PM2.5 of 31.5–41.9 µg/m3, with Poisson regression analysis estimating an adjusted relative risk (aRR) of 1.26 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.11–1.43), compared to the incidence at the reference condition (<20◦C and PM2.5 < 17.5 µg/m3 ). As the temperature increased, the incident RvI cases reduced to 4.84 cases/100 days (aRR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.35–0.45) when it was >25◦C with PM2.5 < 17.5 µg/m3, or to 9.84/100 days (aRR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.77–0.93) when it was >25◦C with PM2.5 > 42 µg/m3 . The seasonal RvI is associated with frequent indoor personal contact among children in the cold months. The association with PM2.5 could be an alternative assessment due to temperature inversion.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 12570 |
Journal | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 23 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 01 12 2021 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Ambient temperature
- Fine particulate matter
- Interaction
- Rotavirus infection
- Seasonality