Kaski Air Pollution Study (KAPS)
The Kaski Air Pollution Study (KAPS) is an NIEHS-funded R01 case-control study of pulmonary TB disease and latent TB infection in Nepal (Co-PIs: Michael Bates and Kirk Smith). The cases are adult men and women recruited from the Regional TB Clinic (RTC) in Pokhara, and the controls are from surrounding communities, recruited through population-based sampling. The aims are to determine whether biomass fuel and/or kerosene used for cooking, heating or lighting are risk factors for M tuberculosis infection or TB disease.
Pokhrel AK, Bates MN, Verma SC, Joshi HS, Sreeramareddy CT, Smith KR. Tuberculosis and Indoor Biomass and Kerosene Use in Nepal: A Case–Control Study. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2010 April;118(4):558-564.
Lakshmi PVM, Virdi NK, Thakur JS, Smith KR, Bates MN, Kumar R. Biomass fuel and risk of tuberculosis: a case–control study from Northern India. J Epidemiol Community Health 2012;66:5 457-461.
Bates MN, Khalakdina A, Pai M, Chang L, Lessa F, Smith KR (2007) Risk of Tuberculosis From Exposure to Tobacco Smoke A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 167:335-342.
Mishra VK, Retherford RD, Smith KR (1999) Biomass Cooking Fuels and Tuberculosis in India. Int J Infect Dis 3:119-129
Bhaktapur Air Pollution Case-Control Study
The Bhaktapur air pollution case-control study was funded by the governments of Norway and Denmark in 2006 and the Kirk Smith research group was invited to add a household air pollution (HAP) monitoring component. This study examines the association between solid fuel HAP and risk of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) in young children in Bhaktapur, Nepal. The HAP level was measured in 824 kitchens of pneumonia cases and age-matched controls without pneumonia using the UC Berkeley Particle and Temperature Sensors (UCB-PATS). Separately, a sub-study was conducted in 60 households to validate the monitoring instruments. Three publications have resulted:
Bates MN, Chandyo RK, Valentiner-Branth P, Pokhrel AK, Mathisen M, Basnet S, Shrestha PS, Strand TA, Smith KR. Acute Lower Respiratory Infection in Childhood and Household Fuel Use in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Environ Health Perspect 121:637-642 (2013).
Bates MN, Chandyo RK, Valentiner-Branth P, Pokhrel AK, Mathisen M, Basnet S, Shrestha PS, Strand AT, Smith KR, 2013, Acute lower respiratory infection and household fuel use in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Environ Health Perspect 121:637-642.
Pokhrel AK, Bates MN, Acharya J, Valentiner-Branth P, Chandyo RK, Shrestha PS, Raut AK, Smith KR, 2015, PM2.5 in household kitchens of Bhaktapur, Nepal, using four different cooking fuels, Atmospheric Environment, 113: 159-168.
Bates MN, Pokhrel AK, Chandyo RK, Valentiner-Branth P, Mathisen M, Basnet S, Strand TA, Burnett RT, Smith KR. (in press) Kitchen PM2.5 concentrations and child acute lower respiratory infection in Bhaktapur, Nepal: the importance of fuel type. Environ Research.
PEER Study of Child Pneumonia
Through the PEER Health program, our research group is assisting colleagues in Nepal to conduct a study examining the impacts on household air pollution and child respiratory disease of a biogas intervention in Western Nepal. Biogas, methane produced biologically from animal waste in household digesters and burned cleanly for cooking and lighting, is used in many parts of the world, but has apparently not yet been examined systematically as a health intervention. Although the site was heavily damaged in the 2015 earthquake, the project was able to complete fieldwork in 2017. Results will be published soon.