Exposure to Household Air Pollution From Biomass Cooking and Severe Pneumonia in Infants

Are personal exposures to fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide during pregnancy and infancy associated with increased risk of severe pneumonia in infants?This cohort study included 3061 infants, with 11 996 infant-quarters of active health care facility surveillance and 13 910 personal exposure assessments in 4 low- and middle-income countries. No associations between prenatal or postnatal fine particulate matter exposures and severe pneumonia or between personal carbon monoxide exposures and severe pneumonia were found.The findings of this study suggest that household-level mitigation strategies to reduce fine particulate matter and carbon monoxide exposures with cleaner cooking may not have as meaningful an impact on severe pneumonia in infants as previously estimated.

Corresponding Author: William Checkley, MD, PhD, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, 1830 E Monument St, Room 555, Baltimore, MD 21287 (wcheckl1@jhmi.edu).

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