Seasonal variation of acute gastro-intestinal illness by hydroclimatic regime and drinking water source: a retrospective population-based study.
J Water Health
; 12(1): 122-35, 2014 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24642439
ABSTRACT
Acute gastro-intestinal illness (AGI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and an important public health problem. Despite the fact that AGI is currently responsible for a huge burden of disease throughout the world, important knowledge gaps exist in terms of its epidemiology. Specifically, an understanding of seasonality and those factors driving seasonal variation remain elusive. This paper aims to assess variation in the incidence of AGI in British Columbia (BC), Canada over an 11-year study period. We assessed variation in AGI dynamics in general, and disaggregated by hydroclimatic regime and drinking water source. We used several different visual and statistical techniques to describe and characterize seasonal and annual patterns in AGI incidence over time. Our results consistently illustrate marked seasonal patterns; seasonality remains when the dataset is disaggregated by hydroclimatic regime and drinking water source; however, differences in the magnitude and timing of the peaks and troughs are noted. We conclude that systematic descriptions of infectious illness dynamics over time is a valuable tool for informing disease prevention strategies and generating hypotheses to guide future research in an era of global environmental change.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Contexto en salud:
2_ODS3
/
7_ODS3_muertes_prevenibles_nacidos_ninos
Problema de salud:
2_enfermedades_transmissibles
/
2_muertes_prevenibles
/
7_environmental_health
Asunto principal:
Estaciones del Año
/
Microbiología del Agua
/
Agua Potable
/
Gastroenteritis
Tipo de estudio:
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Water Health
Asunto de la revista:
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Año:
2014
Tipo del documento:
Article