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Exposure to airborne fine particulate matter PM2.5-pollution-causing particles that are about 3 percent of the diameter of human hair is linked with the development of acute lower respiratory infection ALRI in children. The research was carried out by a team from Intermountain Healthcare, Brigham Young University, and the University of Utah.
Infectious processes of respiratory disease may be influenced by particulate matter pollution at various levels, researchers examined many participants who were treated for ALRI between 1999 and 2016 at Intermountain Healthcare facilities throughout Utah’s Wasatch Front region. PM2.5 levels were estimated based on data from air quality monitoring stations along the Wasatch Front, where approximately 80% of Utah’s population resides.
Measurements were also made at secondary locations. Short-term periods of PM2.5 elevation were matched with the timing of increases in healthcare visits for ALRI. The research team discovered that there is a link between ALRI and elevated levels of PM2.5 in children and adults. Long-term exposure to air pollution makes people more susceptible to ALRI.
Bronchiolitis, a condition in which small breathing tubes in the lungs called bronchioles become infected and clogged with mucus, is the most common acute lower respiratory infection in children. Bronchiolitis cases are caused by respiratory syncytial virus RSV, air pollution makes human body more susceptible to infection and impairs the body’s ability to fight infectious agents. PM2.5 causes damage to the airway so that a virus can successfully cause an infection.
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