The Association between Respiratory Infection and Air Pollution in the Setting of Air Quality Policy and Economic Change

Abstract

Increased rates of culture-negative pneumonia and influenza were associated with increased PM_2.5 concentrations during the previous week, which persisted despite reductions in PM_2.5 from air quality policies and economic changes. Though unexplained, this temporal variation may reflect altered toxicity of different PM_2.5 mixtures or increased pathogen virulence.