The Impact of Weather on Hospitalization due to Pneumonia Among Children in Nghe An from 2014 to 2019

This paper studies the impact of weather on the number of under 15-year-old children hospitalized for pneumonia at Nghe An Pediatric Hospital using time series analysis of the data collected from 2014 to 2019. The study was carried out on 45,466 children, most of whom were under 5 years old. The study results show that there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between mean daily temperature and children’s hospitalization for pneumonia while humidity was positively correlated. Specifically, when the average daily temperature increased by 1 degree Celsius, the risk of hospitalization for pneumonia on the same day decreased by 1% (95% CI: 0.3 - 1.7%); whereas when the humidity increased, the risk of hospitalization increased by 14.4% (95% CI: 0.2 - 30.7%) on the day of hospitalization; risk increased by 16.5% (95% CI: 9.5 - 23.9%) one day before hospitalization; and risk increased by 15.2% (95% CI: 8.2 - 22.7%) two days before hospitalization. The results suggest that children are highly sensitive to weather factors, including temperature and humidity; therefore, it is necessary to take measures to protect children against changing weather. Keywords Weather, pneumonia, children, effect. References [1] I. Rudan, et al., Epidemiology and etiology of childhood pneumonia. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 86(5) (2008) 408-416.[2] M. Harris, et al., British Thoracic Society guidelines for the management of community acquired pneumonia in children: update Thorax, 66 (2011) (Suppl 2): p. ii1.[3] Margolis, P. and A. Gadomski, The rational clinical examination. Does this infant have pneumonia? Jama 279(4) (1998) 308-13.[4] World Health Organization, Handbook : IMCI integrated management of childhood illness. 2005, World Health Organization: Geneva.[5] Sönke Kreft, David Eckstein, and Inga Melchior, Global Climate Risk Index 2017, Germanwatch Nord-Süd Initiative e.V.,.[6] Pham Khoi Nguyen, Vietnam's event about sea level rising and climate chang, 2009, Ministry of Natural resources and enviroment.[7] L.M.T. Luong, et al., Effects of temperature on hospitalisation among pre-school children in Hanoi, Vietnam, 26(3) (2019) 2603-2612.[8] D. Phung, et al., Temperature as a risk factor for hospitalisations among young children in the Mekong Delta area, Vietnam. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 72(7) (2015) 529.[9] J. Gao, et al., Impact of ambient humidity on child health: a systematic review. PloS one 9(12) (2014) p. e112508-e112508.[10] Y. Liu, et al., Temporal relationship between hospital admissions for pneumonia and weather conditions in Shanghai, China: a time-series analysis. BMJ Open, 4(7) (2014) p. e004961.[11] T. Egondi, et al., Time-series analysis of weather and mortality patterns in Nairobi's informal settlements. Global health action, 5 (2012) 23-32.[12] Leckebusch, G.C. and A.F. Abdussalam, Climate and socioeconomic influences on interannual variability of cholera in Nigeria. Health Place, 34 (2015) 107-17.