Particulate air pollution in Ho Chi Minh city and risk of hospital admission for acute lower respiratory infection among young children. - GreenMedInfo Summary

High levels of air pollutants in Vietnam, especially particulate matters including PM, can be important risk factors for respiratory diseases among children of the country. However, few studies on the effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been conducted in Vietnam so far. The aim of this study is to examine the association between PMand hospital admission due to acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) among children aged < 5 years old in Ho Chi Minh city, the largest city of Vietnam. Data relating PMand hospital admission were collected from February 2016-December 2017 and a time series regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between PMand hospital admission including the delayed effect up to three days prior to the admission. We found that each 10 μg/mincrease in PMwas associated with an increase of 3.51 (95%CI: 0.96-6.12) risk of ALRI admission among children. According to the analysis, male children are more sensitive to exposure to PMthan females, while children exposed to PMare more likely to be infected with acute bronchiolitis than with pneumonia. The study demonstrated that young children in HCMC are at increased risk of ALRI admissions due to the high level of PMconcentration in the city's ambient air.