Environmental Lead Exposure and Influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Diagnoses in Young Children: A Test-Negative Case-Control Study

Marina Oktapodas Feiler, Mary T. Caserta, Edwin van Wijngaarden, Kelly Thevenet-Morrison, Dwight J. Hardy, Yan Victoria Zhang, Ann M. Dozier, B. Paige Lawrence and Todd A. Jusko
Additional contact information
Marina Oktapodas Feiler: Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Mary T. Caserta: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Edwin van Wijngaarden: Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Kelly Thevenet-Morrison: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
Dwight J. Hardy: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Yan Victoria Zhang: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Ann M. Dozier: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 265 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY 14620, USA
B. Paige Lawrence: Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA
Todd A. Jusko: Department of Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY 14642, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: Experimental and epidemiological evidence suggests that environmental toxicants may influence susceptibility to influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). The objective of the present study was to estimate the association between blood lead concentrations and the odds of child influenza or RSV infection. A test-negative, case-control study was conducted among 617 children, <4 years of age, tested for influenza/RSV from 2012–2017 in Rochester, NY. There were 49 influenza cases (568 controls) and 123 RSV cases (494 controls). Blood lead concentrations reported in children’s medical records were linked with influenza/RSV lab test results. Covariables were collected from medical records, birth certificates, and U.S. census data. In this sample, evidence of an association between blood lead levels and RSV or influenza diagnosis was not observed. Children with a lead level ≥1 μg/dL vs. <1 μg/dL had an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence limit of 0.95 (0.60, 1.49) for RSV and 1.34 (0.65, 2.75) for influenza. In sex-specific analyses, boys with lead concentrations ≥1 μg/dL vs. <1 μg/dL had an aOR = 1.89 (1.25, 2.86) for influenza diagnosis, while the estimates were inconsistent for girls. These results are suggestive of sex-specific associations between blood lead levels and the risk of influenza, although the sample size was small.

Keywords: flu; RSV; Pb; blood lead; pediatric; respiratory infection; sex-specific influenza; immunotoxicology; infectious disease; exposure; environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7625/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/20/7625/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:20:p:7625-:d:431461

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().