Effects of Meteorological Factors and Atmospheric Pollution on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Urumqi Region

Fang-Rong Ren; Zhe Cui; Miao Zhang; Yu-Yu Wang; Xue-Rong Zhang; Yao-Qin Lu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.913169

Effects of Meteorological Factors and Atmospheric Pollution on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Urumqi Region

Front Public Health. 2022 Jun 22:10:913169. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.913169. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Fang-Rong Ren¹, Zhe Cui², Miao Zhang³, Yu-Yu Wang³, Xue-Rong Zhang³, Yao-Qin Lu⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China.
² College of Public Health, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China.
³ Economics and Management School, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
⁴ Department of Infectious Disease Control, Urumqi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ürümqi, China.

Abstract

Background: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a febrile rash infection caused by enteroviruses, spreading mainly via the respiratory tract and close contact. In the past two decades, HFMD has been prevalent mainly in Asia, including China and South Korea, causing a huge disease burden and putting the lives and health of children at risk. Therefore, a further study of the factors influencing HFMD incidences has far-reaching implications. In existing studies, the environmental factors affecting such incidences are mainly divided into two categories: meteorological and air. Among these studies, the former are the majority of studies on HFMD. Some scholars have studied both factors at the same, but the number is not large and the findings are quite different.

Methods: We collect monthly cases of HFMD in children, meteorological factors and atmospheric pollution in Urumqi from 2014 to 2020. Trend plots are used to understand the approximate trends between meteorological factors, atmospheric pollution and the number of HFMD cases. The association between meteorological factors, atmospheric pollution and the incidence of HFMD in the Urumqi region of northwest China is then investigated using multiple regression models.

Results: A total of 16,168 cases in children are included in this study. According to trend plots, the incidence of HFMD shows a clear seasonal pattern, with O₃ (ug/m³) and temperature (°C) showing approximately the same trend as the number of HFMD cases, while AQI, PM_2.5 (ug/m³), PM₁₀ (ug/m³) and NO₂ (ug/m³) all show approximately opposite trends to the number of HFMD cases. Based on multiple regression results, O₃ (P = 0.001) and average station pressure (P = 0.037) are significantly and negatively associated with HFMD incidences, while SO₂ (P = 0.102), average dew point temperature (P = 0.072), hail (P = 0.077), and thunder (P = 0.14) have weak significant relationships with them.

Keywords: atmospheric pollution; communicable disease control; meteorological factor; multiple regression model; prevention of HFMD.

MeSH terms

Child
China / epidemiology
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease* / epidemiology
Humans
Incidence
Meteorological Concepts
Temperature