The Impact of Saharan Dust on Visits to Clinics in Antigua and Barbuda for Acute Respiratory Infections

Abstract

At present there is no assessment of the health impacts of Saharan dust in Antigua and Barbuda. A retrospective study was conducted to determine the association between Saharan dust particles along with other climatic variables and visits to the clinics for acute respiratory infections. All visits to the clinics on both islands (n=8851) over 14 years (1999-2003, 2005, 2011-2018) were compared to the dust haze observations and climatic variables using regression analysis. A negative correlation was observed between visits to clinics for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) and the presence of dust haze in the atmosphere (R2 =0.339, p=0.029). Visits for ARIs had positive correlations with wind speed (R2 =0.373, p=0.020), mean sea level pressure (R2 =0.094, p=0.286), relative humidity (R2 =0.203, p=0.106) and rainfall (R2 =0.040, p=0.493). A significant inverse relationship was found between visits and the study years (R2 =0.666, p=<0.001). Saharan dust impacts the residents of Antigua and Barbuda causing an increase in visits to clinics for ARIs with a lag or latency interval between the dust events. These findings provide good evidence which should aid governments in planning their strategic response to this serious public health issue.