The Effect of PM2.5 pollutant on Acute Lower Respiratory Infection (ALRI) in Children Under 5 Years of Age in Ahvaz During the Years (2008-2017)

The main topic of this study was to impact assessment of the outcome of Acute Lower Respiratory Infection (ALRI) attributed to PM2.5 exposure using the AirQ+ model in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, as one of the most polluted cities in the world during the period (2008-2017).

Mortality data (including population and incidence of health outcome) and PM2.5 were obtained from the Deputy Minister of Health, Environmental Protection, and Meteorological Organizations of Ahvaz. After validating the data according to WHO guidelines, they entered the AirQ+ software. Also, BI values ​​in 100 thousand people and RR with 95% confidence intervals were used.

The highest concentration of PM2.5 was in 2010 (70.72 µg/m3) and the lowest in 2014 (41.97 µg/m3) and in all years of measurement the amount of PM2.5 was higher than the WHO standard (10 µg/m3) was. The results showed that in the health outcome of ALRI, there was a significant relationship between PM2.5 concentration, ratio, and attributed cases. Thus, with the increase of air pollution in Ahvaz due to PM2.5 pollutants, mortality and risk of this disease increased. During the ten years under study, the highest proportions and attributed cases of AP, BE, and NE in all health outcomes were observed in 2010. In ALRI, 41.43% were 8 and 10 people.

It can be concluded that appropriate measures and policies should be adopted to reduce air pollution in the control of PM2.5 pollutant sources. Until it reduced the health effects of this pollutant in urban children under 5 years of age.