1. Household Air Pollution and Respiratory Symptoms a Month Before and During the Stringent COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4 in South Africa
- Author
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Caradee Y. Wright, Thandi Kapwata, Nada Abdelatif, Chiara Batini, Bianca Wernecke, Zamantimande Kunene, Danielle A. Millar, Angela Mathee, Renée Street, Rikesh Panchal, Anna Hansell, Rebecca Cordell, and Joshua Vande Hey
- Subjects
Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Background: Household air pollution (HAP) is associated with adverse human health impacts. During COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4 (the most stringent levels), South Africans remained at home, potentially increasing their exposure to HAP. Objectives: To investigate changes in fuel use behaviours/patterns of use affecting HAP exposure and associated HAP-related respiratory health outcomes during COVID-19 Lockdown Levels 5 and 4. Methods: This was a cross-sectional online and telephonic survey of participants from an existing database. Logistic regression and McNemar’s test were used to analyse household-level data. Results: Among 2 505 participants, while electricity was the main energy source for cooking and heating the month before and during Lockdown Levels 5 and 4, some households used less electricity during Lockdown Levels 5 and 4 or switched to “dirty fuels.” One third of participants reported presence of environmental tobacco smoke in the home, a source of HAP associated with respiratory illnesses. Prevalence of HAP-related respiratory health outcomes were
- Published
- 2022
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