Acute leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and has been associated with exposure to environmental carcinogens. This study aimed to identify clusters of acute childhood leukemia (ACL) cases and analyze their relationship with proximity to industrial sources of air pollution in three capital cities in Colombia during 2000–2015. Incident ACL cases were obtained from the population cancer registries for the cities of Bucaramanga, Cali, and Medellín. The inventory of industrial sources of emissions to the air was obtained from the regional environmental authorities and industrial conglomerates were identified. The Kulldorf’s circular scan test was used to detect city clusters and to identify clusters around industrial conglomerates. Multivariable spatial modeling assessed the effect of distance and direction from the industrial conglomerates controlling for socioeconomic status. We identified industrials sectors within a buffer of 1 km around industrial conglomerates related to the ACL clusters. Incidence rates showed geographical heterogeneity with low spatial autocorrelation within cities. The spatio-temporal tests identified one cluster in each city. The industries located within 1 km around the ACL clusters identified in the three cities represent different sectors. Exposure to air pollution from industrial sources might be contributing to the incidence of ACL cases in urban settings in Colombia.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and rhinovirus (RV) are major causes of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) worldwide. The circulation of both RSV and RV was notably altered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study analyzed the epidemiological and molecular characteristics of RSV and RV in Santander, Colombia, during the pandemic period (PP, 2020–2021) and the post-pandemic period (PPP, 2023–2024). A total of 921 respiratory samples from patients with ARIs were screened for RSV-A/B and RV. Sequences of the RSV attachment glycoprotein (G) gene and the RV VP4–VP2 region were analyzed in positive samples. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the study population were also assessed. RSV was not detected during PP, whereas RV was detected in 4.8% of samples. During PPP, RSV-A, RSV-B, and RV were detected in 5.6%, 4.4%, and 28.0% of samples, respectively. RSV infections were mainly identified in children, while RV was detected across all age groups. RSV-A sequences grouped within seven A.D-derived lineages (A.D.1.5, A.D.1.7, A.D.1.8, A.D.3.2, A.D.3.3, A.D.5.1, A.D.5.2), whereas RSV-B sequences clustered within the B.D.E.1 lineage. RV showed a higher number of detected genotypes during the PPP than during the PP. The genotypic characterization performed in this study provides new insight into the molecular epidemiology of RSV and RV in Santander, Colombia, during PP and PPP, and represents, to our knowledge, the first regional description of RSV lineages and RV genotypes across these periods.