Geographical variation in the effect of ambient temperature on infectious diarrhea among children under 5 years

Understanding the geographical distribution in the association of temperature with childhood diarrhea can assist in formulating effective localized diarrhea prevention practices. This study aimed to identify the geographical variation in terms of temperature thresholds, lag effects, and attributable fraction (AF) in the effects of ambient temperature on Class C Other Infectious Diarrhea (OID) among children <5 years in Jiangsu Province, China. Daily data of OID cases and meteorological variables from 2015 to 2019 were collected. City-specific minimum morbidity temperature (MMT), increasing risk temperature (IRT), maximum risk temperature (MRT), maximum risk lag day (MRD), and lag day duration (LDD) were identified as risk indicators for the temperature-OID relationship using distributed lag non-linear models. The AF of OID incidence due to temperature was evaluated. Multivariable regression was also applied to explore the underlying modifiers of the AF. The geographical distributions of MMT, IRT, and MRT generally decreased with the latitude increment varying between 22.3–34.7 °C, −2.9–18.1 °C, and −6.8–23.2 °C. Considerable variation was shown in the AF ranging from 0.2 to 8.5%, and the AF significantly increased with latitude (95% confidence interval (CI): −3.458, −0.987) and economic status decrement (95% CI: −0.161, −0.019). Our study demonstrated between-city variations in the association of temperature with OID, which should be considered in the localized clinical and public health practices to decrease the incidence of childhood diarrhea.