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Personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide and the risk of lower respiratory disease with upper respiratory infection

Personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide and the risk of lower respiratory disease with upper respiratory infection
Personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide and the risk of lower respiratory disease with upper respiratory infection

This thesis describes the results of a prospective longitudinal study of the relationship between personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and the risk of respiratory disease in association with upper respiratory infection in children.

A cohort of 116 9-11 year old children with a 12 month prevalence of wheeze and /or cough, kept daily diary cards of upper (URT) and lower (LRT) respiratory symptoms, and twice daily peak expiratory flow (PEF) recordings, and measured 7-day personal exposures to NO2 using Palmes diffusion tubes between 1.10.94-1.12.95.

When the clinical samples were screened by the RT-PCR panel, one or more viruses were detected in 224/280 (80%) of samples taken during symptoms, and in 23/116 (20%) samples when asymptomatic. The most frequently identified viruses were picornavirus, RS virus, coronavirus and M.pneumoniae. The prevalence of virus was significantly higher in samples taken during acute symptoms than when asymptomatic for single (61% vs. 15%), dual (15% vs. 5%) and triple 4% vs. zero) infections respectively. Analyses of the diary card data demonstrated that the presence of single, dual and triple infections were significantly associated with progressively more severe upper and lower respiratory symptom scores in a viral dose-response fashion.

In conclusion, the results indicated that weekly personal exposures to NO2 increased lower airway symptoms and falls in peak expiratory flow rates around the start of an upper respiratory infection with three of the most common cold viruses (picornavirus, RS virus and coronavirus). A clear exposure-response relationship suggests that these findings are biologically significant, but a lack of consistency between viruses may be explained by limitations in study power and possibly my misclassification of peaks of personal NO2 exposure. Before the findings of this study can be fully extended to all at-risk children, it has to be borne in mind that this cohort represented a heterogeneous group of wheezy children not exposed to tobacco smoke at home.

University of Southampton
Chauhan, Anoop Jivan
Chauhan, Anoop Jivan

Chauhan, Anoop Jivan (1998) Personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide and the risk of lower respiratory disease with upper respiratory infection. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

This thesis describes the results of a prospective longitudinal study of the relationship between personal exposure to the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and the risk of respiratory disease in association with upper respiratory infection in children.

A cohort of 116 9-11 year old children with a 12 month prevalence of wheeze and /or cough, kept daily diary cards of upper (URT) and lower (LRT) respiratory symptoms, and twice daily peak expiratory flow (PEF) recordings, and measured 7-day personal exposures to NO2 using Palmes diffusion tubes between 1.10.94-1.12.95.

When the clinical samples were screened by the RT-PCR panel, one or more viruses were detected in 224/280 (80%) of samples taken during symptoms, and in 23/116 (20%) samples when asymptomatic. The most frequently identified viruses were picornavirus, RS virus, coronavirus and M.pneumoniae. The prevalence of virus was significantly higher in samples taken during acute symptoms than when asymptomatic for single (61% vs. 15%), dual (15% vs. 5%) and triple 4% vs. zero) infections respectively. Analyses of the diary card data demonstrated that the presence of single, dual and triple infections were significantly associated with progressively more severe upper and lower respiratory symptom scores in a viral dose-response fashion.

In conclusion, the results indicated that weekly personal exposures to NO2 increased lower airway symptoms and falls in peak expiratory flow rates around the start of an upper respiratory infection with three of the most common cold viruses (picornavirus, RS virus and coronavirus). A clear exposure-response relationship suggests that these findings are biologically significant, but a lack of consistency between viruses may be explained by limitations in study power and possibly my misclassification of peaks of personal NO2 exposure. Before the findings of this study can be fully extended to all at-risk children, it has to be borne in mind that this cohort represented a heterogeneous group of wheezy children not exposed to tobacco smoke at home.

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Published date: 1998

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Local EPrints ID: 463540
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/463540
PURE UUID: 265b3e56-49cb-4937-9540-3da85d9833cc

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Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 20:53
Last modified: 04 Jul 2022 20:53

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Author: Anoop Jivan Chauhan

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