Air pollution and bronchiolitis

Air pollution and bronchiolitis

Investigators: Paul Demers, Mieke Koehoorn, Mike Brauer, Cornel Lencar, Lillian Tamburic from the University of British Columbia, and Catherine Karr from the University of Washington

people cars Objective
To examine the relationship between the incidence of childhood respiratory disorders and exposure to air pollutants in the Georgia Air Basin.

Project Summary
In this study we have established a respiratory disease cohort to evaluate the relationship between the incidence of bronchiolitis and air pollutants in the Georgia Air Basin (GAB). The cohort includes single births in the metropolitan areas in 1999 and 2000 with 40,288 available for analysis. Birth records have been linked with the BC Linked Health Database to obtain data on all health care system encounters, as well as residential history and census tract information. Infants were followed from their 2nd to 12th months and 5,678 outpatient and hospitalization cases were identified.

Average exposures to air pollution were estimated for the home address of the children for lifetime, one month, two months prior to diagnosis. Results have been adjusted for infant sex, ethnicity (First Nations Status]) and prematurity, as well as neighborhood income and maternal education.

This is the first study to observe an association between physician diagnosis and hospital admissions for bronchiolitis and ozone exposure. These findings add some support for previously reported associations between bronchiolitis and exposure to particulate matter in the Georgia Air Basin.

Presentations and Posters
Presentations are in PDF format. The free Acrobat Reader is needed to access these documents.

2008
Impacts of Ambient Air Pollution on Infant Bronchiolitis in Puget Sound and the Georgia Air Basin, presented by Catherine Karr at the BC Lung Association's 5th Annual Air Quality and Health Workshop March 28, 2008 at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre. Download presentation

2007
The Impacts of Air Pollution on Bronchiolitis, presented by Paul Demers at the BAQS Meeting in Semiahmoo, January 2007. Download presentation (pdf)

2006
PM2.5 exposure and risk of hospitalization for infant bronchiolitis presented by C. Karr, K. Miller, T. Larson, J. Koenig at the ISEE/ISEA Conference in Paris, September 2006. Download abstract or poster.

The impact of air pollution on bronchiolitis presented by P. Demers, C. Karr, M. Koehoorn, C. Lencar, L. Tamburic, M. Brauer at the ISEE/ISEA Conference in Paris, September 2006. Download abstract or presentation.

Air Pollution and Bronchiolitis presented by M. Brauer at the International Airshed Strategy Coordinating Committee Meeting in Parksville, BC May 2006. Download presentation.

2005
Border Air Quality Study: Impact of Ambient Air Pollution on Infant Bronchiolitis in Puget Sound and the Georgia Air Basin of the Pacific Northwest
presented by C.Karr, P. Demers, M.Brauer , M.Koehoorn, C. Lencar, L. Tamburic at the PNWIS Conference, Blaine WA. November 10, 2005. Download presentation or abstract.

Maps
These maps show annual average air pollution levels, bronchiolitis rates, and neighbourhood income levels in Vancouver and Victoria.

For each forward sortation area (a geographical region where all postal codes start with the same three characters), you can see: