scholarly journals Climatic factors associated with hospitalizations for rotavirus diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age

2007 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. D'SOUZA ◽  
G. HALL ◽  
N. G. BECKER

SUMMARYThis study compares the seasonality of rotavirus diarrhoeal hospital admissions and its relationship to climatic factors across three Australian cities. Weekly admission of rotavirus diarrhoea (1993–2003) in children aged <5 years and weekly average temperature and relative humidity for each city were modelled using a log-linear model with a cubic trend and season. Interactions were included to test for differences in the effect of temperature and humidity between seasons and between cities. Admissions of rotavirus diarrhoea peaked in winter and spring and were lowest in summer. Higher temperature and humidity in the previous week were associated with a decrease in rotavirus diarrhoeal admissions in three cities. The effects of both temperature and humidity on rotavirus admissions in Brisbane differed across seasons. Strategies to combat outbreaks of rotavirus diarrhoea should take climatic factors and seasonal effects into consideration to plan for the excess seasonal hospital admissions.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Qin ◽  
Qiang Sun ◽  
Jiani Shao ◽  
Yang Chen ◽  
Xiaomei Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The effects of temperature and humidity on the epidemic growth of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)remains unclear.Methods: Daily scatter plots between the epidemic growth rate (GR) and average temperature (AT) or average relative humidity (ARH) were presented with curve fitting through the “loess” method. The heterogeneity across days and provinces were calculated to assess the necessity of using a longitudinal model. Fixed effect models with polynomial terms were developed to quantify the relationship between variations in the GR and AT or ARH.Results: An increased AT dramatically reduced the GR when the AT was lower than −5°C, the GR was moderately reduced when the AT ranged from −5°C to 15°C, and the GR increased when the AT exceeded 15°C. An increasedARH increased theGR when the ARH was lower than 72% and reduced theGR when the ARH exceeded 72%.Conclusions: High temperatures and low humidity may reduce the GR of the COVID-19 epidemic. The temperature and humidity curves were not linearly associated with the COVID-19 GR.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayoshi Ikeda ◽  
Thandi Kapwata ◽  
Swadhin K. Behera ◽  
Noboru Minakawa ◽  
Masahiro Hashizume ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundDiarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in children under 5 years of age. Factors related to diarrheal disease incidence include infection, malnutrition, and exposure to contaminated water and food. Climate factors also contribute to diarrheal disease.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore the relationship between temperature, precipitation and diarrhea case counts of hospital admissions among vulnerable communities living in a rural setting in South Africa.MethodsWe applied a novel approach of ‘contour analysis’ to visually examine simultaneous observations in frequencies of anomalously high and low diarrhea case counts occurring in a season and assigning colors to differences that were statistically significant based on chi-squared test results.ResultsThere was a significantly positive difference between high and low ‘groups’ when there was a lack of rain (0 mm of cumulative rain) for 1 to 2 weeks in winter for children under 5.Diarrhea prevalence was greater among children under 5 years when conditions were hotter than usual during winter and spring.DiscussionDry conditions may lead to increased water storage raising the risks of water contamination. Reduced use of water for personal hygiene and cleaning of outdoor pit latrines affect sanitation quality. Rural communities require adequate and uninterrupted water provision and healthcare providers should raise awareness about potential diarrheal risks especially during the dry season.


Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayoshi Ikeda ◽  
Thandi Kapwata ◽  
Swadhin K. Behera ◽  
Noboru Minakawa ◽  
Masahiro Hashizume ◽  
...  

Diarrheal disease is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in children under 5 years of age. Factors related to diarrheal disease incidence include infection, malnutrition, and exposure to contaminated water and food. Climate factors also contribute to diarrheal disease. We aimed to explore the relationship between temperature, precipitation and diarrhoea case counts of hospital admissions among vulnerable communities living in a rural setting in South Africa. We applied ‘contour analysis’ to visually examine simultaneous observations in frequencies of anomalously high and low diarrhoea case counts occurring in a season, and assigning colours to differences that were statistically significant based on chi-squared test results. Children under 5 years of age were especially vulnerable to diarrhoea during very dry, hot conditions as well as when conditions were wetter than usual. We saw an anomalously higher number of diarrhoea cases during ‘warmer than usual’ conditions in the dry winter season, with average winter temperatures in Limpopo being from about 5 to 10 °C. As for ‘wetter than usual’ conditions, we saw an anomalously higher number of diarrhoea cases during ‘drier than usual’ conditions for the winter and spring. The lagged association seen in cumulative rainfall could not be distinguished in the same way for temperature-related variables (indicating rainfall had a larger impact on higher cases of diarrhoea), nor for the older age group of 5 years and older. Dry conditions were associated with diarrhoea in children under 5 years of age; such conditions may lead to increased water storage, raising the risks of water contamination. Reduced use of water for personal hygiene and cleaning of outdoor pit latrines also affect sanitation quality. Rural communities require adequate and uninterrupted water provision, and healthcare providers should raise awareness about potential diarrhoeal risks, especially during the dry season as well as during wintertime when conditions are warmer than usual.


Author(s):  
Amreen Bashir ◽  
Peter A. Lambert ◽  
Yvonne Stedman ◽  
Anthony C. Hilton

The survival on stainless steel of ten Salmonella isolates from food factory, clinical and veterinary sources was investigated. Stainless steel coupons inoculated with Salmonella were dried and stored at a range of temperatures and relative humidity (RH) levels representing factory conditions. Viability was determined from 1 to 22 days. Survival curves obtained for most isolates and storage conditions displayed exponential inactivation described by a log-linear model. Survival was affected by environmental temperatures and RH with decimal reduction times (DRTs) ranging from <1 day to 18 days. At 25 °C/15% RH, all isolates survived at levels of 103 to 105 cfu for >22 days. Furthermore, temperatures and RH independently influenced survival on stainless steel; increasing temperatures between 10 °C and 37 °C and increasing RH levels from 30–70% both decreased the DRT values. Survival curves displaying a shoulder followed by exponential death were obtained for three isolates at 10 °C/70% RH. Inactivation kinetics for these were described by modified Weibull models, suggesting that cumulative injury occurs before cellular inactivation. This study highlights the need to control temperature and RH to limit microbial persistence in the food manufacturing environment, particularly during the factory shut-down period for cleaning when higher temperature/humidity levels could be introduced.


2013 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Jaworski ◽  
Jacek Hilszczański

Abstract Ongoing climate change is mainly evident as increased in average temperature. It is expected to have a significant impact on world’s biomes, with forest ecosystems especially vulnerable to these changes. The effect of climate change on forests is both indirect, through its impact on various tree species of different ecological requirements, and direct, through its impact on all living components of the forest ecosystem. Among the latter, insects are the group of the greatest importance, including species detrimental to forest health. The impact of climate change on forest insects may be reflected in their distribution, phenology, activity, number of generations and, indirectly, through impact on their natural enemies. Predicting the future direction and pace of the climate change, as well as direct and indirect consequences of its effect on forest insects is difficult and often subject to considerable inaccuracy. The paper presents a review of data from the published literature in this area of study. The influence of the basic climate parameters, temperature and humidity, on forest herbivore insects is discussed, particularly in the context of the most probable scenarios of climate change, i.e. the gradual increase in the average temperature. Observed and projected impacts of climate change in relation to the influence of herbivorous insects on forest ecosystems are characterized. We present some of the possible adaptation strategies of forest management to the expected climate changes.


Author(s):  
P. R. Swann ◽  
W. R. Duff ◽  
R. M. Fisher

Recently we have investigated the phase equilibria and antiphase domain structures of Fe-Al alloys containing from 18 to 50 at.% Al by transmission electron microscopy and Mössbauer techniques. This study has revealed that none of the published phase diagrams are correct, although the one proposed by Rimlinger agrees most closely with our results to be published separately. In this paper observations by transmission electron microscopy relating to the nucleation of disorder in Fe-24% Al will be described. Figure 1 shows the structure after heating this alloy to 776.6°C and quenching. The white areas are B2 micro-domains corresponding to regions of disorder which form at the annealing temperature and re-order during the quench. By examining specimens heated in a temperature gradient of 2°C/cm it is possible to determine the effect of temperature on the disordering reaction very precisely. It was found that disorder begins at existing antiphase domain boundaries but that at a slightly higher temperature (1°C) it also occurs by homogeneous nucleation within the domains. A small (∼ .01°C) further increase in temperature caused these micro-domains to completely fill the specimen.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan T Evangelista

UNSTRUCTURED The seasonality of influenza viruses and endemic human coronaviruses was tracked over an 8-year period to assess key epidemiologic reduction points in disease incidence for an urban area in the northeast United States. Patients admitted to a pediatric hospital with worsening respiratory symptoms were tested using a multiplex PCR assay from nasopharyngeal swabs. The additive seasonal effects of outdoor temperatures and indoor relative humidity (RH) were evaluated. The 8-year average peak activity of human coronaviruses occurred in the first week of January, when droplet and contact transmission was enabled by the low indoor RH of 20-30%. Previous studies have shown that an increase in RH to 50% has been associated with markedly reduced viability and transmission of influenza virus and animal coronaviruses. As disease incidence was reduced by 50% in early March, to 75% in early April, to greater than 99% at the end of April, a relationship was observed from colder temperatures in January with a low indoor RH to a gradual increase in outdoor temperatures in April with an indoor RH of 45-50%. As a lipid-bound, enveloped virus with similar size characteristics to endemic human coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 should be subject to the same dynamics of reduced viability and transmission with increased humidity. In addition to the major role of social distancing, the transition from lower to higher indoor RH with increasing outdoor temperatures could have an additive effect on the decrease in SARS-CoV-2 cases in May. Over the 8-year period of this study, human coronavirus activity was either zero or >99% reduction in the months of June through September, and the implication would be that SARS-Cov-2 may follow a similar pattern. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.15.20103416


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e038415
Author(s):  
Jennifer Johnston ◽  
Jo Longman ◽  
Dan Ewald ◽  
Jonathan King ◽  
Sumon Das ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe proportion of potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) which are actually preventable is unknown, and little is understood about the factors associated with individual preventable PPH. The Diagnosing Potentially Preventable Hospitalisations (DaPPHne) Study aimed to determine the proportion of PPH for chronic conditions which are preventable and identify factors associated with chronic PPH classified as preventable.SettingThree hospitals in NSW, Australia.ParticipantsCommunity-dwelling patients with unplanned hospital admissions between November 2014 and June 2017 for congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes complications or angina pectoris. Data were collected from patients, their general practitioners (GPs) and hospital records.Outcome measuresAssessments of the preventability of each admission by an Expert Panel.Results323 admissions were assessed for preventability: 46% (148/323) were assessed as preventable, 30% (98/323) as not preventable and 24% (77/323) as unclassifiable. Statistically significant differences in proportions preventable were found between the three study sites (29%; 47%; 58%; p≤0.001) and by primary discharge diagnosis (p≤0.001).Significant predictors of an admission being classified as preventable were: study site; final principal diagnosis of CHF; fewer diagnoses on discharge; shorter hospital stay; GP diagnosis of COPD; GP consultation in the last 12 months; not having had a doctor help make the decision to go to hospital; not arriving by ambulance; patient living alone; having someone help with medications and requiring help with daily tasks.ConclusionsThat less than half the chronic PPH were assessed as preventable, and the range of factors associated with preventability, including site and discharge diagnosis, are important considerations in the validity of PPH as an indicator. Opportunities for interventions to reduce chronic PPH include targeting patients with CHF and COPD, and the provision of social welfare and support services for patients living alone and those requiring help with daily tasks and medication management.


Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Ana Isabel Galván ◽  
Alicia Rodríguez ◽  
Alberto Martín ◽  
Manuel Joaquín Serradilla ◽  
Ana Martínez-Dorado ◽  
...  

Dried fig is susceptible to infection by Aspergillus flavus, the major producer of the carcinogenic mycotoxins. This fruit may be contaminated by the fungus throughout the entire chain production, especially during natural sun-drying, post-harvest, industrial processing, storage, and fruit retailing. Correct management of such critical stages is necessary to prevent mould growth and mycotoxin accumulation, with temperature being one of the main factors associated with these problems. The effect of different temperatures (5, 16, 25, 30, and 37 °C) related to dried-fig processing on growth, one of the regulatory genes of aflatoxin pathway (aflR) and mycotoxin production by A. flavus, was assessed. Firstly, growth and aflatoxin production of 11 A. flavus strains were checked before selecting two strains (M30 and M144) for in-depth studies. Findings showed that there were enormous differences in aflatoxin amounts and related-gene expression between the two selected strains. Based on the results, mild temperatures, and changes in temperature during drying and storage of dried figs should be avoided. Drying should be conducted at temperatures >30 °C and close to 37 °C, while industry processing, storage, and retailing of dried figs are advisable to perform at refrigeration temperatures (<10 °C) to avoid mycotoxin production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Zhu ◽  
Anchi Wu ◽  
Guoyi Zhou

AbstractPhosphorus (P) is an important element in terrestrial ecosystems and plays a critical role in soil quality and ecosystem productivity. Soil total P distributions have undergone large spatial changes as a result of centuries of climate change. It is necessary to study the characteristics of the horizontal and vertical distributions of soil total P and its influencing factors. In particular, the influence of climatic factors on the spatial distribution of soil total P in China’s forest ecosystems remain relatively unknown. Here, we conducted an intensive field investigation in different forest ecosystems in China to assess the effect of climatic factors on soil total P concentration and distribution. The results showed that soil total P concentration significantly decreased with increasing soil depth. The spatial distribution of soil total P increased with increasing latitude and elevation gradient but decreased with increasing longitude gradient. Random forest models and linear regression analyses showed that the explanation rate of bioclimatic factors and their relationship with soil total P concentration gradually decreased with increasing soil depths. Variance partitioning analysis demonstrated that the most important factor affecting soil total P distribution was the combined effect of temperature and precipitation factor, and the single effect of temperature factors had a higher explanation rate compare with the single effect of precipitation factors. This work provides a new farmework for the geographic distribution pattern of soil total P and the impact of climate variability on P distribution in forest ecosystems.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document