Most pollution makes the flu worse, but ground-level ozone might actually protect you from getting infected.
March 26, 2026
Original Paper
Subtype-specific associations between ambient air pollution and influenza virus infection: a nationwide case-crossover study in China
SSRN · 6447968
The Takeaway
A nationwide study in China discovered that while particulates like PM2.5 and gases like NO2 increase influenza rates, higher levels of ozone—usually considered a dangerous pollutant—were associated with a significant decrease in laboratory-confirmed flu cases, likely due to its disinfectant properties in the environment.
From the abstract
With the advancement of industrialization and the acceleration of urbanization, air pollution has become a major environmental health issue worldwide. However, the subtype-specific associations between air pollution and influenza virus infection remains unclear. In this nationwide individual-level case-crossover study, conditional logistic regression models combined with distributed lag models were applied to quantify the associations between exposure to PM2.5, PM10, O3, CO, NO2, SO2 and influen