Environmental Sciences
; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
WOS研究方向:
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
英文摘要:
Epidemic thunderstorm asthma (ETA) is an emerging public health threat in Australia, highlighted by the 2016 event in Melbourne, Victoria, that overwhelmed health services and caused loss of life. However, there is limited understanding of the regional variations in risk. We evaluated the public health risk of ETA in the nearby state of Tasmania by quantifying the frequency of potential ETA episodes and applying a standardized natural disaster risk assessment framework. Using a case-control approach, we analyzed emergency presentations in Tasmania's public hospitals from 2002 to 2017. Cases were defined as days when asthma presentations exceeded four standard deviations from the mean, and controls as days when asthma presentations were less than one standard deviation from the mean. Four controls were randomly selected for each case. Independently, a meteorologist identified the dates of potential high-risk thunderstorm events. No case days coincided with thunderstorms during the study period. ETA was assessed as a very low risk to the Tasmanian population, with these findings informing risk prioritization and resource allocation. This approach may be scaled and applied in other settings to determine local ETA risk. Furthermore, the identification of hazards using this method allows for critical analysis of existing public health systems.
1.Univ Tasmania, Menzies Inst Med Res, 1 Liverpool St, Hobart, Tas 7000, Australia 2.Dept Hlth Tasmania, Publ Hlth Serv, 25 Argyle St, Hobart, Tas 7000, Australia 3.Bur Meteorol, GPO Box 727, Hobart, Tas, Australia 4.Univ Tasmania, Antarctic Climate & Ecosyst Cooperat Res Ctr, 20 Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tas 7000, Australia 5.Univ Tasmania, Sch Engn, Private Bag 65, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia 6.Univ Strathclyde, Dept Civil & Environm Engn, James Weir Bldg,75 Montrose St, Glasgow G1 1XJ, Lanark, Scotland
Recommended Citation:
Campbell, Sharon L.,Fox-Hughes, Paul D.,Jones, Penelope J.,et al. Evaluating the Risk of Epidemic Thunderstorm Asthma: Lessons from Australia[J]. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH,2019-01-01,16(5)