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Effects of temperature and PM2.5 on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth in a heavily polluted area, Shijiazhuang, China

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Abstract

The influence of weather and air pollution factors on hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) has received widespread attention. However, most of the existing studies came from lightly polluted areas and the results were inconsistent. There was a lack of relevant evidence of heavily polluted areas. This study aims to quantify the relationship between weather factors and air pollution with HFMD in heavily polluted areas. We collected the daily number of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Shijiazhuang, China from 2014 to 2018, as well as meteorological and air pollutant data over the same period. The generalized linear model combined with the distributed lag model was used to study the effect of meteorological factors and air pollutants on the daily cases of HFMD and its hysteresis effect. We found that the dose-response relationship between temperature, PM2.5, and the risk of hand-foot-mouth disease was non-linear. Both low temperature and high temperature increased the risk of hand-foot-mouth disease. The cumulative effect of high temperature reached the maximum at 0–10 lag days, and the cumulative effect of low temperature reached the maximum at 0–3 lag days. The concentration of PM2.5 between 76 and 200 μg/m3 has a certain risk of the onset of hand, foot, and mouth disease, but the extreme PM2.5 concentration has a certain protective effect. In addition, low humidity, low wind speed, and low-O3 can increase the risk of HFMD. Risks of humidity and low concentration of O3 increased as lag days extended. In conclusion, our study found that climate factors and air pollutants exert varying degrees of impact on HFMD. Our research provided the scientific basis for establishing an early warning system so that medical staff and parents can take corresponding measures to prevent HFMD.

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Data availability

Our data are not public. The data come from Shijiazhuang CDC, please contact the corresponding unit if necessary. The data can be accessed from the Shijiazhuang CDC and Department of Hebei Environmental Protection with permission via direct request.

Abbreviations

HFMD:

hand foot mouth disease

DLNM:

distributed lag nonlinear model

CI:

confidence interval

RR:

relative risk

NO2 :

nitrogen dioxide

PM2.5 :

particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of ≤2.5 μm

PM10 :

particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of ≤10 μm

SO2 :

sulfur dioxide

O3 :

ozone

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Statistics, School of Public Health, Hebei Medical University, Hebei Province Key Laboratory of Environment and Human Health, 361 Zhongshan East Road, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China

    Ran Liu, Weiheng Guo, Wei Guo, Wenjuan Wang, Lina Yan, Ning Ma & Xiaolin Zhang

  2. The Department of Epidemic Treating and Preventing, Center for Disease Prevention and Control of Shijiazhuang City, Likang Road 3#, Shijiazhuang, 050011, China

    Jianning Cai & Shiyong Zhang

Authors
  1. Ran Liu
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  2. Jianning Cai
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  3. Weiheng Guo
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  4. Wei Guo
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  5. Wenjuan Wang
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  6. Lina Yan
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  7. Ning Ma
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  8. Xiaolin Zhang
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  9. Shiyong Zhang
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Contributions

Xiaolin Zhang, Weiheng Guo, and Shiyong Zhang designed the study; Jianning Cai, Shiyong Zhang, and Wenjuan Wang collected the data; Shiyong Zhang and Ning Ma checked the data; Ran Liu and Jianning Cai collated the data; Ran Liu, Lina Yan, and Wei Guo analyzed data; Ran Liu drafted the original manuscript; Weiheng Guo and Xiaolin Zhang helped revise the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xiaolin Zhang or Shiyong Zhang.

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This study has been approved by the ethics committee of the Shijiazhuang Center for Disease Control (202006). The data of this study do not involve any personal information. Private information has been erased before research.

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Liu, ., Cai, J., Guo, W. et al. Effects of temperature and PM2.5 on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth in a heavily polluted area, Shijiazhuang, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 11801–11814 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16397-7

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