Impact of meteorological factors on influenza incidence in Wuxi from 2014 to 2019: a time series and comprehensive analysis.

Background: Although the association between meteorological factors and influenza was numerously documented, the results are inconsistent, requiring a meta-analysis for synthesis. A recent analysis of the association between influenza and meteorological factors was conducted in Wuxi, China.

Methods: Meteorological data and laboratory-confirmed influenza cases from 2014 to 2019 were collected in Wuxi. The exposure-response relationship was analyzed using a generalized additive model. Then we performed subgroup analysis based on age and gender. Finally, meta-analysis was utilized to aggregate the total influence of meteorological factors on influenza.

Results: A total of 5,306 influenza cases were reported. Seven influenza peaks, observed every winter to spring and only one summer (2015), were noted. For a unit increase in weekly average pressure, temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, precipitation, and sunshine duration, the risk of influenza increased by 7.37%, decreased by 8.39%, decreased by 33.83%, increased by 6.44% when relative humidity was >68.86%, increased by 19.91% when precipitation was ≤ 6.13 mm, and decreased by 11.41% when sunshine duration was ≤ 6.30 h, respectively. No significant gender differences were observed. The impacts of air pressure, temperature, precipitation, and sunshine duration on children aged 3-14 were greater than on other age groups. Compared with the meta-analysis, the pooled effect of ambient temperature was consistent. In subgroup and meta-regression analysis, significant differences were found in the children group.

Conclusion: This study provides further insight into the effects of meteorological factors on influenza incidence, especially the impact on children, helping enhance the level of influenza monitoring and early warning research.