Existing evidence suggested that the risk of tuberculosis (TB) infection was associated to the variations in temperature and PM2.5. A total of 9,111 cases of TB were reported in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China from 2013 to 2015 on a daily basis, and 57.2% of them were male. The TB risk was more prominent for a lower temperature in males (RR of 1.724, 95% CI: 1.241, 2.394), the aged over 64 years (RR of 2.241, 95% CI: 1.554, 3.231), and the high mobility occupation subpopulation (RR of 2.758, 95% CI: 1.745, 4.359). High concentration of PM2.5 showed a short-term effect and was only associated with an increased risk in the early stages of exposure for the female, and aged 36-64 years group. There were 15.06% (1370 cases) of cases of TB may be attributable to the temperature, and 2.94% (268 cases) may be attributable to the increase of PM2.5 exposures. Low temperatures may be associated with significantly increase in the risk of TB, and high PM2.5 concentrations have a short-term association on increasing the risk of TB. Strengthening the monitoring and regular prevention and control of high risk groups will provide scientific guidance to reduce the incidence of TB.
Keywords: PM2.5; Tuberculosis; case-crossover design; distributed lag non-linear model; meteorological factors.