For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
55
views
7
references
 Top references
cited by
143
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      254
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Air pollution and case fatality of SARS in the People's Republic of China: an ecologic study

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has claimed 349 lives with 5,327 probable cases reported in mainland China since November 2002. SARS case fatality has varied across geographical areas, which might be partially explained by air pollution level.

          Methods

          Publicly accessible data on SARS morbidity and mortality were utilized in the data analysis. Air pollution was evaluated by air pollution index (API) derived from the concentrations of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ground-level ozone. Ecologic analysis was conducted to explore the association and correlation between air pollution and SARS case fatality via model fitting. Partially ecologic studies were performed to assess the effects of long-term and short-term exposures on the risk of dying from SARS.

          Results

          Ecologic analysis conducted among 5 regions with 100 or more SARS cases showed that case fatality rate increased with the increment of API (case fatality = - 0.063 + 0.001 * API). Partially ecologic study based on short-term exposure demonstrated that SARS patients from regions with moderate APIs had an 84% increased risk of dying from SARS compared to those from regions with low APIs (RR = 1.84, 95% CI: 1.41–2.40). Similarly, SARS patients from regions with high APIs were twice as likely to die from SARS compared to those from regions with low APIs. (RR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.31–3.65). Partially ecologic analysis based on long-term exposure to ambient air pollution showed the similar association.

          Conclusion

          Our studies demonstrated a positive association between air pollution and SARS case fatality in Chinese population by utilizing publicly accessible data on SARS statistics and air pollution indices. Although ecologic fallacy and uncontrolled confounding effect might have biased the results, the possibility of a detrimental effect of air pollution on the prognosis of SARS patients deserves further investigation.

          Related collections

          Most cited references7

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Particulate air pollution and hospital emergency room visits for asthma in Seattle.

          J. Schwartz, D. SLATER, T Larson … (1993)
          Recent studies have associated short-term exposure to respirable particulate matter (PM10) exposure with peak flow decrements, increased symptoms of respiratory irritation, increased use of asthma medications, and increased hospitalization for asthma. Increased mortality from chronic respiratory disease has also been reported. To help confirm whether PM10 exposure is a risk factor for the exacerbation of asthma, we compiled daily records of asthma emergency room visits from eight hospitals in the Seattle area. In Poisson regressions controlling for weather, season, time trends, age, hospital, and day of the week, the daily counts of emergency room visits for persons under age 65 were significantly associated with PM10 exposure on the previous day. The mean of the previous 4 days' PM10 was a better predictor (p < 0.005). The relative risk for a 30 micrograms/m3 increase in PM10 was 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.20 to 1.04). Daily PM10 concentrations never exceeded 70% of the current ambient air quality standards during the period. The consistency of investigations of the health effects of PM10 suggest that increased attention should be given to the control of particulate matter air pollution.
          Article 0 comments Cited 89 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Particulate air pollution and daily mortality in Steubenville, Ohio.

            Gregory G Schwartz, D W Dockery (1992)
            Particulate air pollution has been associated with daily mortality in London, England, both in the smog episodes of the 1950s and at the lower pollution levels of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Replicating these findings in the United States has been difficult, because particulates are usually sampled every sixth day. Replication, particularly with a gravimetric measure of particulates, is important in assessing the causality of the relation. Daily measurements of total suspended particulates by high volume gravimetric sampler are available for the Steubenville, Ohio, metropolitan area. These were matched to daily mortality counts from the detail mortality tapes of the National Center for Health Statistics. Deaths of residents which occurred outside the Steubenville Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area were excluded. Because of the much smaller population, the average total number of deaths per day in the Steubenville Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area over the 11-year period 1974-1984 was about 1% of the deaths in a typical London winter. Despite this reduced statistical power, total suspended particulate count was significantly associated with increased daily mortality in Poisson regression analyses controlling for season and temperature. An increase in particulates of 100 micrograms/m3 was associated with a 4% increase in mortality on the succeeding day. Associations with sulfur dioxide were not significant after adjustment for particulates. The relation appeared to continue at levels well below the current National Ambient Air Quality Standard.
            Article 0 comments Cited 39 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Asthma attack periodicity: A study of hospital emergency visits in Vancouver

              D.V. Bates, M. Baker-Anderson, R Sizto (1990)
              Attendances at the emergency departments of the nine acute care hospitals serving the Vancouver region, with a population of just under a million people, were recorded from July 1, 1984 to October 31, 1986. Of about 25,500 visits a month, 2.7% were for respiratory conditions; and of these, 41.3% were for asthma. Data from 11 air monitoring stations were also tabulated on a daily basis, giving mean maximal hourly values for SO2, NO2, and O3; daily aerosol sulfate measurements from one station were also analyzed, together with daily temperature data and measurements of the coefficient of haze. In 3 consecutive years, a peak in asthma attendances was noted, starting in the last week of September, and continuing for 3 weeks. In these periods, weekly visits for asthma reached 130 patients; during the rest of the year, the weekly visits for asthma varied between 30 and 90. This peak affected children and adults between the ages of 15 and 60, but no increase was seen in those over 60 years. Although pollution levels increased sharply in the fall, a day-by-day analysis showed that the rise in asthma attendances preceded the increase in NO chi and SO2 levels for the region, expressed as the mean of the hourly maxima across all stations. It seems unlikely that a specific pollen is responsible for this, or that house mite replication is the cause. Soya beans are not shipped out of Vancouver. The cause of the peak has not been identified. Variations in emergency visits by day of the week have been recorded; in children and in those aged 15-60, more visits occur on Sundays than on other days, but this does not occur in those over 60. There is no significant variation in environmental data by day of the week. Intercorrelations between environmental variables and emergency visits have been calculated separately for the periods May 1 to October 31, and November 1 to April 31. SO2, NO2, and SO4 are strongly intercorrelated in both periods; ozone is strongly related to temperature, but less strongly correlated to sulfate than is the case in Southern Ontario. In summer, total emergency visits (but not respiratory visits) are strongly correlated with temperature in all age groups (the hotter the day, the more visits occur); but respiratory visits are not related to temperature, ozone, or NO2 levels. However, in the 15-60 age group, asthma and respiratory visits are correlated in summer with SO2 and SO4 levels (P = less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
              Article 0 comments Cited 23 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Environ Health
                Title: Environmental Health
                Publisher: BioMed Central (London )
                ISSN (Electronic): 1476-069X
                Publication date Collection: 2003
                Publication date (Electronic): 20 November 2003
                Volume: 2
                Page: 15
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
                [2 ]Southern California Particle Center and Supersite, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
                [3 ]Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, 210009, China
                [4 ]Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
                Article
                Publisher ID: 1476-069X-2-15
                DOI: 10.1186/1476-069X-2-15
                PMC ID: 293432
                PubMed ID: 14629774
                SO-VID: 308dd761-6a25-41e8-96e0-a8d42704632b
                Copyright © Copyright © 2003 Cui et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL.
                History
                Date received : 17 September 2003
                Date accepted : 20 November 2003
                Categories
                Subject: Research

                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health
                Data availability:
                ScienceOpen disciplines: Public health

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content254

                See all similar

                Cited by188

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors306

                See all reference authors