TOPLINE:

Exposure to ambient air pollutants, especially carbon monoxide (CO), was associated with an increased risk for paediatric emergency department visits for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs).

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the effect of daily ambient air pollutant concentrations on paediatric emergency department admissions for URTIs.
• They included 2572 children (mean age, 39 months; 57% boys) admitted to an emergency department in Poland between January 2015 and December 2020 with a diagnosis of common cold or acute URTIs.
• Daily concentrations of particulate matter with diameters of 2.5 and 10 μm (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀), CO, nitrogen oxides, ozone (O₃), and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) were obtained from a certified environmental monitoring station.

TAKEAWAY:

• From 2015 through 2019, paediatric emergency department visits for URTIs steadily rose, peaking at 567 cases in 2019.
• During the study period, mean concentrations of PM exceeded the limits recommended by the World Health Organization. Seasonal patterns showed higher concentrations of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, and SO₂ during winter and peaked concentrations of O₃ during summer.
• Significant positive associations were observed between daily concentrations of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, and SO₂ (P < .05 for all) and the number of paediatric emergency department visits for URTIs. O₃ showed a weak inverse correlation (P < .001).
• After adjusting for meteorological variables and seasonality, only CO was independently associated with increased URTI-related emergency department visits (β, 0.54; P = .05), with each 1 μg/m³ rise in CO associated with a 72% higher rate of visits for URTIs.

IN PRACTICE:

"[The study] results underscore the health impact of air pollution on children and support public health measures aimed at reducing exposure. Raising awareness among caregivers and clinicians about environmental triggers of respiratory illness remains essential," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Ewelina Wawryk-Gawda, Department of Pediatric Pulmonology and Rheumatology, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland. It was published online on November 13, 2025, in the European Journal of Pediatrics.

LIMITATIONS:

Using data from a single ambient air monitoring station may have missed local variation, leading to exposure misclassification. Relying on mean daily pollutant concentrations without accounting for personal or indoor data might have underestimated true exposure. Because the study was conducted at a single hospital, the results may not be broadly generalisable.

DISCLOSURES:

This study did not receive any funding. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.