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2024 OMIG Abstract

Association of Weather Variables with Pathogens Contributing to Conjunctivitis Worldwide

Daisy Yan¹, N. Venkatesh Prajna², Prajna Lalitha², Wiwan Sansanayudh³, Vannarut Satitpitakul^4,5,
Wipada Laovirojjanakul⁶, Meenu Chaudhary⁷, Mamadou Bountogo⁸, Ali Sie⁸, Boubacar Coulibaly⁸,
Abdou Amza⁹, Beido Nassirou⁹, Ibrahim Almou⁹, Huy Tran¹⁰, Yen Tran^10,11, Edmund Tsui¹², Tania Onclinx¹², Ruti Sella^13,14, Lee Goren¹⁴, Esmeralda McClean¹⁵, Vivien Tham¹⁶, Cindi Chen¹, Kevin Ruder¹, Lina Zhong¹, YuHeng Liu¹, Danny Yu¹, Thomas Abraham¹, Elodie Lebas¹, Benjamin F. Arnold^1,17,
Stephen D. McLeod¹, Michael S. Deiner¹⁷, Travis C. Porco^1,17, Gerami D. Seitzman^1,17,
Thomas M. Lietman^1,17, Jessica Shantha^1,17, Armin Hinterwirth¹, Thuy Doan<sup>1,17

1</sup>1Francis I Proctor Foundation, University of California San Francisco, USA; ²Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India; ³Phramongkutklao Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand; ⁴Center of Excellence for Cornea and Stem Cell Transplantation, Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; ⁵Department of Ophthalmology, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, Bangkok, Thailand; ⁶Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand; ⁷B.P Koirala Lions Center for Ophthalmic Studies, Institute of Medicine, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal; ⁸Nouna Health Research Center (CRSN), Nouna, Burkina Faso, Africa; ⁹Programme Nationale de Santé Oculaire, Niamey, Niger; ¹⁰Hai Yen Vision Institute, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
¹¹Department of Ophthalmology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;
¹²Ocular Inflammatory Disease Center, Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, United States; ¹³Department of Ophthalmology, Rabin Medical Center, Petha-Tikva, Israel; ¹⁴Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; ¹⁵Shiley Eye Institute, University of California San Diego, San Diego, United States; ¹⁶University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine, Honolulu, United States; ¹⁷Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, United States

Purpose: To identify weather parameters associated with pathogens contributing to conjunctivitis.

Methods: Sample collection and pathogen identification from patients with acute infectious conjunctivitis was performed from 2017 to 2023. We linked pathogens identified from 13 sites across 8 countries with publicly available weather data by geographic coordinates. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the associations between temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity exposures, and the prevalence of infection.

Results: 498 cases from the United States, India, Nepal, Thailand, Burkina Faso, Niger, Vietnam, and Israel were included. Precipitation (mm) was associated with increased odds of RNA virus infection (odds ratio (OR) = 1.47, 95% CI: 1.12 to 1.93, P=0.01). Relative humidity (%) was associated with increased odds of RNA virus infections (OR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.51 to 4.61, P<0.001), and fungal infections (OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.19 to 4.66, P=0.01), but decreased odds of DNA virus (OR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.37 to 0.90, P=0.02) and bacterial infections (OR=0.42, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.71, P<0.001). Temperature (°C) was not associated with ocular infections for any pathogen type.

Conclusions: This study suggests that weather factors affect pathogens differently. Particularly, humidity and precipitation appear to be predictors for pathogens contributing to conjunctivitis worldwide. Additional work is needed to clarify the effects of shifts in climate and environmental factors on ocular infectious diseases.


Disclosure:

E, S