Yingying Yang1, Renjie Chen2, Jinhua Xu3, Qiao Li3, Xiaohui Xu4, Sandie Ha4, Weimin Song1, Jianguo Tan5, Feng Xu6, Haidong Kan7. 1. School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 2. School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 3. Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 4. Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professional and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 5. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Meteorological and Health, Shanghai, China. 6. Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: xufeng@medmail.com.cn. 7. School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: kanh@fudan.edu.cn.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The seasonality of varicella and herpes zoster has been widely observed, but there is limited evidence on their associations with ambient temperature. OBJECTIVE: The associations between ambient temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster were examined. METHODS: We collected daily outpatient visit data for varicella (N = 3520) and herpes zoster (N = 6614) from a major hospital in Shanghai, China, from 2008 to 2010. We adopted the generalized additive model in time-series analysis to investigate the short-term associations between temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster after controlling for seasonal trends, day of the week, and humidity. RESULTS: A 1°C increase in daily mean temperature was associated with a 1.33% (95% confidence interval 0.93%-1.74%) decrease in outpatient visits for varicella whereas it was associated with a 2.18% (95% confidence interval 1.90%-2.46%) increase in outpatient visits for herpes zoster. LIMITATIONS: Only 1 hospital was included and we did not control for individual-level risk factors. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that temperature variation might be an important risk factor for varicella and herpes zoster in China.
BACKGROUND: The seasonality of varicella and herpes zoster has been widely observed, but there is limited evidence on their associations with ambient temperature. OBJECTIVE: The associations between ambient temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster were examined. METHODS: We collected daily outpatient visit data for varicella (N = 3520) and herpes zoster (N = 6614) from a major hospital in Shanghai, China, from 2008 to 2010. We adopted the generalized additive model in time-series analysis to investigate the short-term associations between temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster after controlling for seasonal trends, day of the week, and humidity. RESULTS: A 1°C increase in daily mean temperature was associated with a 1.33% (95% confidence interval 0.93%-1.74%) decrease in outpatient visits for varicella whereas it was associated with a 2.18% (95% confidence interval 1.90%-2.46%) increase in outpatient visits for herpes zoster. LIMITATIONS: Only 1 hospital was included and we did not control for individual-level risk factors. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that temperature variation might be an important risk factor for varicella and herpes zoster in China.
Authors: Hua Zhu; Han Zhao; Rong Ou; Qing Zeng; Ling Hu; Hongfang Qiu; Manoj Sharma; Mengliang Ye Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-01-20 Impact factor: 3.390