TY - JOUR T1 - Influence of environmental conditions and pollution on the incidence of <em>Streptococcus pneumoniae</em> infections JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00014-2017 VL - 3 IS - 4 SP - 00014-2017 AU - José M. Sahuquillo-Arce AU - Elisa Ibáñez-Martínez AU - Alicia Hernández-Cabezas AU - Alba Ruiz-Gaitán AU - Patricia Falomir-Salcedo AU - Rosario Menéndez AU - José L. López-Hontangas Y1 - 2017/10/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/3/4/00014-2017.abstract N2 - Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes a large percentage of the population and while it can cause mild respiratory infections it is also responsible for more severe illnesses, such as invasive pneumococcal disease. Patient co-morbidities, concomitant viral infection, low temperature and environmental pollutants all have a synergistic effect that predisposes to pneumococcal infection, exerting deleterious effects on respiratory epithelium and local immune system, diminishing bacterial clearance and favouring infection [1].Fossil fuel derived pollutants (SO2, NO), dry air and cold increase the incidence of S. pneumoniae infections http://ow.ly/RnLW30gogb1The authors would like to express their gratitude to José Luis Pisón and Ana Viciano Pastor from the Acoustic Pollution Service of the city of Valencia for providing environmental data. ER -