THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION AND INCIDENCE OF PNEUMONIA UNDER FIVE BEFORE AND DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN JAKARTA

Abstract

Air pollution in Jakarta Province increases every year and even contributes greatly to the incidence of under-five pneumonia that reached 42,305 with 95,53% coverage of case finding in 2018. In addition, the COVID-19 prevention policy may affect air pollution in Jakarta. It’s of critical importance to understand and examine the factors impacting the air pollution toward the under-five pneumonia. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the relationship between air pollution (PM₁₀, SO₂, CO, O₃, and NO₂) on the incidence of pneumonia under five in Jakarta before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research design used the ecologic study and the spearman correlation test. Pollution Standard Index (PSI) data and pneumonia data were collected by calculating monthly averages. The findings showed the average incidence of under-five pneumonia in Jakarta is 259 cases. Before COVID-19, this cases was higher at the beginning (January-April) and lower in the middle to the end of the year (May-December). During the COVID-19, pneumonia increased in January and decreased significantly from February to December 2020. The PSI in ‘good’ category are NO₂ (10,32), CO (18,26) and SO₂ (21,58) however PM₁₀ (52,19) and O₃ (68,52) are in ‘moderate’. The spearman result of PM₁₀, O₃ and CO are (p=0.000), (p=0,033) and (p=0.000) respectively, meanwhile SO₂ and NO₂ are (p=0.979) and (p=0.674). In conclusion, PM₁₀, O₃ and CO were significantly associated to the incidence of pneumonia under five in Jakarta before and during COVID-19, while SO₂ and NO₂ are not related to that. These findings support the reason that limiting PM₁₀, O₃, and CO concentrations in Jakarta may be an effective strategy to reduce the incidence of under-five pneumonia. This research calls for further research with case control study on air pollution with pneumonia who is elaborated on the COVID-19 cases.