Pollen and viruses contribute to spatio-temporal variation in asthma-related emergency department visits.
Environ Res
; 257: 119346, 2024 Sep 15.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38838752
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Asthma exacerbations are an important cause of emergency department visits but much remains unknown about the role of environmental triggers including viruses and allergenic pollen. A better understanding of spatio-temporal variation in exposure and risk posed by viruses and pollen types could help prioritize public health interventions.OBJECTIVE:
Here we quantify the effects of regionally important Cupressaceae pollen, tree pollen, other pollen types, rhinovirus, seasonal coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza on asthma-related emergency department visits for people living near eight pollen monitoring stations in Texas.METHODS:
We used age stratified Poisson regression analyses to quantify the effects of allergenic pollen and viruses on asthma-related emergency department visits.RESULTS:
Young children (<5 years of age) had high asthma-related emergency department rates (24.1 visits/1,000,000 person-days), which were mainly attributed to viruses (51.2%). School-aged children also had high rates (20.7 visits/1,000,000 person-days), which were attributed to viruses (57.0%), Cupressaceae pollen (0.7%), and tree pollen (2.8%). Adults had lower rates (8.1 visits/1,000,000 person-days) which were attributed to viruses (25.4%), Cupressaceae pollen (0.8%), and tree pollen (2.3%). This risk was spread unevenly across space and time; for example, during peak Cuppressaceae season, this pollen accounted for 8.2% of adult emergency department visits near Austin where these plants are abundant, but 0.4% in cities like Houston where they are not; results for other age groups were similar.CONCLUSIONS:
Although viruses are a major contributor to asthma-related emergency department visits, airborne pollen can explain a meaningful portion of visits during peak pollen season and this risk varies over both time and space because of differences in plant composition.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pollen
/
Asthma
/
Emergency Service, Hospital
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Environ Res
/
Environ. res
/
Environmental research
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication: