A Preliminary Assessment of the Role of Ambient Nitric Oxide Exposure in Hospitalization with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Bronchiolitis.
Some in vitro studies have indicated a possible link between respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and exposure to Nitric Oxide (NO). However, these studies used much higher NO concentrations than normally found in the ambient environment. This preliminary study explored whether an association was present with short-term exposure to NO in the environment. RSV-related admission data between November 2011 and February 2012 were obtained from Sheffield Children's Hospital. The dates of admission were linked to contemporaneous ambient NO derived from sentinel air monitors. The case-crossover design was used to study the relationship between daily RSV admissions and NO, controlling for temperature and relative humidity. We found little evidence of association between daily RSV admission rates and exposure to ambient NO at different lags or average exposure across several lags. The findings should, however, be viewed with caution due to the low number of events observed during the time frame. It is possible that the apparent lack of association may be accounted for by the timing of the seasonal RSV epidemic in relation to peaks in NO concentrations. A larger study incorporating a wider range of RSV and NO peaks would determine whether said peaks enhanced the number of RSV hospitalizations in children.
Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. nim007@bham.ac.uk.
Nuredin I
NI
Mohammed
School of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Western Australia, WA 6009, Australia. mark.everard@uwa.edu.au.
Mark L
ML
Everard
Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. j.g.ayres@bham.ac.uk.
Jon G
JG
Ayres
Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Respiratory Medicine, Sheffield S10 2TH, UK. nicki.barker@sch.nhs.uk.
Nicola J
NJ
Barker
Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. I.Litchfield@bham.ac.uk.
Ian J
IJ
Litchfield
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D001988:Bronchiolitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000633:toxicity*; D018357:Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D009569:Nitric Oxide
air pollution; bronchiolitis; nitrogen oxide; respiratory syncytial virus