Additive Effect of Wildfires on Hospital Admission in the Pantanal Wetland

Forest fires produce toxic emissions that are detrimental to human health. Currently, the Pantanal, the largest continuous wetland in the world, is facing intense fires. This situation may contribute to increased hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. To assess the additive effect between active fire hotspots and hospitalizations of residents in the Pantanal, a generalized linear model was used, incorporating geolocalized covariates such as air quality and climatic conditions. Our findings show a consistent worsening, when humans are exposed to 10 additional wildfire hotspots, the daily risk of admissions for respiratory diseases increases by 23,2% and 22,3% for cardiovascular diseases in 10-year analysis. These results can stimulate preventive measures to mitigate forest fires and also early preparation of the health system.