Relationship between climatic factors and air quality with tuberculosis in the Federal District, Brazil, 2003–2012

Relationship between climatic factors and air quality with tuberculosis in the Federal District, Brazil, 2003–2012

Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, May 2017

28545939

Fernanda Monteiro de Castro Fernandes, Eder de Souza Martins, Daniella Melo Arnaud Sampaio Pedrosa, Maria do Socorro Nantua Evangelista

Despite the high rate of tuberculosis (TB) indicators in Brazil, the Federal District (FD) shows a low prevalence of the disease. To analyze the relationship between climatic factors and air quality with tuberculosis in the Brazilian Federal District. This was an ecological and descriptive study comparing 3927 new cases of TB registered at the Federal District Tuberculosis Control Program with data from the National Institute of Meteorology, Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute, Brasilia Environmental Institute, and the Federal District Planning Company. From 2003 to 2012, there has been a higher incidence of TB (27.0%) in male patients in the winter (27.2%). Patients under 15 years of age (28.6%) and older than 64 years (27.1%) were more affected in the fall. For youth and adults (15-64 years), the highest number of cases was reported during winter (44.3%). The disease was prevalent with ultraviolet radiation over 17MJ/m(2) (67.8%; p=<0.001); relative humidity between 31.0% and 69.0% (95.8% of cases; p=<0.00); 12h of daily sunlight or more (40.6%; p=0.001); and temperatures between 20°C and 23°C (72.4%; p=<0.001). In the city of Taguatinga and surrounding area, pollution levels dropped to 15.2% between 2003 and 2012. Smoke levels decreased to 31.9%. In the Sobradinho region, particulate matter dropped to 13.1% and smoke to 19.3%, coinciding with the reduction of TB incidence rates during the same period. The results should guide surveillance actions for TB control and elimination and indicate the need to expand observation time to new climate indicators and air quality.