Purpose To identify weather variables associated with pathogens contributing to infectious conjunctivitis globally. Methods Sample collection and pathogen identification from patients with acute infectious conjunctivitis was performed from 2017 to 2023. We linked pathogens identified from 13 sites across 8 countries with publicly available weather data by geographic coordinates. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the associations between temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity exposures, and the prevalence of infection types (RNA virus, DNA virus, bacteria, and fungus). Results In total, 498 cases from the United States, India, Nepal, Thailand, Burkina Faso, Niger, Vietnam, and Israel were included in the analysis. The 8-day average precipitation (mm) was associated with increased odds of RNA virus infection (odds ratio [OR] = 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.12 to 1.93, P = .01) and decreased odds of DNA infection (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: .46 to .82, P < .001). Relative humidity (%) was associated with increased odds of RNA virus infections (OR = 2.64, 95% CI: 1.51 to 4.61, P < .001), and fungal infections (OR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.19 to 4.66, P = .01), but decreased odds of DNA virus (OR = 0.58, 95% CI: .37 to .90, P = .02) and bacterial infections (OR = 0.42, 95% CI: .25 to .71, P < .001). Temperature (°C) was not associated with ocular infections for any pathogen type. Conclusions This study suggests that weather factors affect pathogens differently. Particularly, humidity and precipitation were predictors for pathogens contributing to conjunctivitis worldwide. Additional work is needed to clarify the effects of shifts in weather and environmental factors on ocular infectious diseases.

中文翻译：

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天气变量与导致全球结膜炎的病原体的关联


目的 确定与全球导致感染性结膜炎的病原体相关的天气变量。方法 2017 年至 2023 年对急性感染性结膜炎患者进行样本采集和病原体鉴定。我们按地理坐标将从 8 个国家/地区的 13 个地点发现的病原体与公开可用的天气数据联系起来。进行混合效应 logistic 回归分析以估计温度、降水和相对湿度暴露与感染类型 （RNA 病毒、DNA 病毒、细菌和真菌） 患病率之间的关联。结果 分析共纳入来自美国、印度、尼泊尔、泰国、布基纳法索、尼日尔、越南和以色列的 498 例病例。8 天平均降水 （mm） 与 RNA 病毒感染的几率增加相关 （比值比 [OR] = 1.47,95% 置信区间 [CI]：1.12 至 1.93，P = .01）和 DNA 感染的几率降低 （OR = 0.62,95% CI： .46 至 .82，P < .001）。相对湿度 （%） 与 RNA 病毒感染（OR = 2.64,95% CI：1.51 至 4.61，P < .001）和真菌感染（OR = 2.35,95% CI：1.19 至 4.66，P = .01）的几率增加有关，但 DNA 病毒（OR = 0.58,95% CI：.37 至 .90，P = .02）和细菌感染（OR = 0.42,95% CI：.25 至 .71， P < .001）.温度 （°C） 与任何病原体类型的眼部感染无关。结论 本研究显示，天气因素对病原菌的影响不同。特别是，湿度和降水是导致全球结膜炎的病原体的预测因子。需要更多的工作来阐明天气和环境因素的变化对眼部传染病的影响。