Short-term Effect of \(PM_{2.5}\) on Childhood Pneumonia Admissions in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso

Aims: There is evidence that atmospheric PM2.5 concentration is higher in Ouagadougou than the World Health Organization recommended threshold; however, its impact on childhood pneumonia admissions is unknown.

Study Design: This was a partial ecological study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pédiatrique Charles de Gaulle (CHUP-CDG) and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Yalgado Ouédraogo (CHU-YO), from July 2019 to June 2020.

Methodology: The study involved 2012 (boys: 54.6%) children under 15 years who were admitted for respiratory diseases and had complete records. Of the 2012 children, 776 (38.6%) were diagnosed with pneumonia. The daily pneumonia counts and sociodemographic and clinical data were retrieved from the hospital’s records. Daily atmospheric PM2.5, temperature, and relative humidity were recorded in the same period. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling was used to forecast daily childhood pneumonia admissions.

Results: The median (IQR) of daily pneumonia admissions (count) and PM2.5 (μg/m3) were 5.0(3.0-8.0) and 19.67(6.05-154.50) respectively. While the likelihood of being hospitalized for pneumonia in children ≥ 5 years and those < 1 year were similar [OR: 1.35(0.98-1.85)], the odds of the former being hospitalized for childhood pneumonia was greater than the latter after controlling PM 2.5 [AOR: 1.38(1.00-1.90)]. The odds increased marginally after the addition of temperature [AOR: 1.39(1.01-1.92)] but not humidity [AOR: 1.39(1.01-1.92). In addition, the ARIMA (0, 1, 1) model was more suitable for forecasting childhood pneumonia admissions.

Conclusion: While no direct association between PM2.5 levels and overall childhood pneumonia admissions was found, the data suggest that PM2.5 may influence the risk of pneumonia in children aged 5 years and older. Further studies covering a longer exposure period are however recommended to validate these findings.