Ambient ozone and bacterium Streptococcus: A link between cellulitis and pharyngitis.

OBJECTIVES: Ambient air pollution, as many publications indicate, may have associations with skin condition. The aim of this study has been to examine such common relations for cellulitis and pharyngitis. The hypothesis is that ambient ground-level ozone may help bacteria to penetrate skin or throat. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We used the emergency department (ED) visits data in Edmonton, Canada for the period from 1992 (April) to 2002 (March). We retrieved all the diagnosed ED visits for cellulitis and pharyngitis. Case-crossover design was used to study potential association between ozone and those visits. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). RESULTS: The results are reported for the interquartile range (IQR = 17.9 ppb) for 8 h maximum ozone. Positive and statistical significant results were obtained as follows: for lags from 0 to 3 (OR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.03-1.12, lag 2); for lags from 0 to 6 days (OR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03-1.12, lag 3); for lags from 0 to 4 (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.03-1.09, for lag 2 and 3). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest the response to exposure to ambient ground-level ozone for skin and pharyngitis considered separately and jointly.