Open AccessThe correlation between atmospheric visibility and influenza in Wuxi city, China
Author(s) -
Juan Liu,
Enpin Chen,
Qi Zhang,
Peng Shi,
Yumeng Gao,
Yujun Chen,
Wendong Li,
Yiran Qin,
Yuan Shen,
Chao Shi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.59
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1536-5964
pISSN - 0025-7974
DOI - 10.1097/md.0000000000021469
Subject(s) - medicine , visibility , environmental health , china , public health , time lag , lag , influenza a virus , influenza like illness , demography , virus , virology , meteorology , geography , computer network , nursing , archaeology , sociology , computer science
Influenza is an acute respiratory infectious disease that poses a threat to public health. We assessed the association between atmospheric visibility and influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in Wuxi city, China. Daily meteorological data, ILI activity, and influenza virus infection rates were collected between 31 December 2012 and 31 December 2017. A distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to analyze the exposure-lag-response of ILI and influenza activity and daily average visibility. A total of 12,800 cases were detected; 1046 cases (8.17%) were of Flu-A and 527 (4.12%) were of Flu-B infection. Our analysis suggested a non-linear relationship between atmospheric visibility and influenza: U-shaped for ILI, and L-shaped for Flu-A and Flu-B. Comparing low visibility (2.5 km) to ILI cases, the risk appeared between day 1 and day 2. For Flu-A, the risk appeared between days 5 and 9, whereas for Flu-B, the risk effect was much stronger and had a longer reaction delay, staying above zero until day 9. The protective effects of high visibility (14 km) on ILI and Flu-B occurred the same day or one day later. However, we found no association between high visibility and Flu-A. In conclusion, our study contributes novel evidence for the effects of atmospheric visibility on influenza. These findings are important for the development of influenza surveillance and early warning systems in Wuxi city.