Assessment of the temperature effect on childhood diarrhea using satellite imagery

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Zhiwei Xu, Queensland University of Technology; Yang Liu, Emory University; Zongwei Ma, Emory University; Ghasem (Sam) Toloo, Queensland University of Technology; Wenbiao Hu, Queensland University of Technology; Shilu Tong, Queensland University of Technology
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-06-23
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2014, Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep05389
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Scientific Reports
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Volume: 4
• Start Page: 5389
• End Page: 5389
• Grant/Funding Information: The authors thank the National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellowship (#553043).
• Keywords: CHILDREN; AMBIENT-TEMPERATURE; MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES; Science & Technology - Other Topics; HEALTH; HEAT WAVES; UNITED-STATES; Science & Technology; CLIMATE-CHANGE; LAND-SURFACE TEMPERATURE; DISEASES; HOSPITALIZATIONS; MORTALITY; Multidisciplinary Sciences
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

A quasi-Poisson generalized linear model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model was used to quantify the main effect of temperature on emergency department visits (EDVs) for childhood diarrhea in Brisbane from 2001 to 2010. Residual of the model was checked to examine whether there was an added effect due to heat waves. The change over time in temperature-diarrhea relation was also assessed. Both low and high temperatures had significant impact on childhood diarrhea. Heat waves had an added effect on childhood diarrhea, and this effect increased with intensity and duration of heat waves. There was a decreasing trend in the main effect of heat on childhood diarrhea in Brisbane across the study period. Brisbane children appeared to have gradually adapted to mild heat, but they are still very sensitive to persistent extreme heat. Development of future heat alert systems should take the change in temperature-diarrhea relation over time into account.