Influence of Weather Variability on Lower Respiratory Tract Infection Incidences in Yola North Local Government Area, Adamawa State

Abstract

The study examines the influence of weather variability on lower respiratory tract infection incidences in Yola North Local Government Area, Adamawa State. Meteorological data (rainfall, relative humidity, minimum and maximum temperature and sunshine duration) from 2015 to 2024 were downloaded from National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA] website. Reported cases of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTIs) were collected from Federal Medical Center Yola, which include; bronchitis, cold, pneumonia, catarrh and Tuberculosis (TB) from 2015-2024. Microsoft excel 2013 was employed to run the seasonal patterns of all the weather variables as well as LRTIs variables. SPSS Version 16 was used to run the correlation between weather elements and LRTIs parameters. Results showed that the pattern of rainfall depicted two seasons (wet and dry); April to September for wet and October to March for dry seasons. The results further revealed that the rainfall pattern and relative humidity influence bronchitis, cold, pneumonia and TB., Maximum and minimum temperature patterns tend to have less influence on those infections, while sunshine duration does not seem to influence LRTI cases incidences in the study area.. The Correlation Analysis results showed negative correlations (r) between rainfall and bronchitis (- 0.513), cold (-0.610) and TB (-0.509) but a positive relationship (0.754) with pneumonia. Relative humidity portrayed negative relationship with all the LRTIs. Maximum temperature has (-0.704) strong negative correlation with pneumonia only. Minimum temperature and sunshine duration shows very weak relationship with all the LRTIs. Based on the seasonal pattern of weather elements and LRTIs parameters and also their relationships, weather variability tends to influences LRTIs incidences in the area. Therefore, it is paramount that government should reinforced environmental hygiene safeguard in the area. The use of nose mask should be encouraged among the populace during dusty weather conditions.