Impacts of Heavy Rain and Typhoon on Allergic Disease

Abstract

ObjectivesAllergic disease may be increased by climate change. Recent reports have shown that typhoon and heavy rain increase allergic disease locally by concentration of airborne allergens of pollen, ozone, and fungus, which are causes of allergic disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether typhoon and heavy rain increase allergic disease in Korea.MethodsThis study included allergic disease patients of the area declared as a special disaster zone due to storms and heavy rains from 2003 to 2009. The study used information from the Korea Meteorological Administration, and from the National Health Insurance Service for allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis).ResultsDuring a storm period, the numbers of allergy rhinitis and atopic dermatitis outpatients increased [rate ratio (RR) = 1.191; range, 1.150–1.232] on the sixth lag day. However, the number of asthma outpatients decreased (RR = 0.900; range, 0.862–0.937) on the sixth lag day after a disaster period. During a storm period, the numbers of allergic rhinitis outpatients (RR = 1.075; range, 1.018–1.132) and atopy outpatients increased (RR = 1.134; range, 1.113–1.155) on the seventh lag day. However, the number of asthma outpatients decreased to RR value of 0.968 (range, 0.902–1.035) on the fifth lag day.ConclusionThis study suggests that typhoon and heavy rain increase allergic disease apart from asthma. More study is needed to explain the decrease in asthma.

Emergency department visits associated with satellite observed flooding during and following Hurricane Harvey

“…Previous studies provide conflicting evidence on whether asthma exacerbation events or acute respiratory illnesses increase during flooding [28,69,70]. In the present study, we found a marginal increase in asthma-related ED visits during the first postflood period only in the highly flooded tracts (RR = 1.08).…”

“…the 16 cites during 2007 [70]. Reacher et al [28] showed a threefold increase in worsening of asthma among adults in flooded areas, however, the study cautioned about interpreting the association as they found a trend of declining risk for increasing depth of flooding.…”

No Calm After the Storm: A Systematic Review of Human Health Following Flood and Storm Disasters

“…The available information on changes in respiratory illness was contradictory. During the first week after a typhoon, a review of insurance claims from typhoon-affected areas found a small increase in patients seeking care for allergic rhinitis (rate ratio: 1.19; 95% CI, 1.15-1.23) but a decrease in patients seeking care for asthma (rate ratio: 0.90; 95% CI, 0.86-0.93); 112 an island-wide treatment facility study found no significant increase in visits for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the week after a cyclone, 87 although other treatment facilities saw significant increases in visits for asthma two weeks 67 and one month post-hurricane 79 . In the one to three months after a hurricane, children with chronic conditions were more likely to have worsened asthma (16.3% versus 1.9%; P<.01) than children without chronic conditions 113 .…”

Eco-Health linkages: assessing the role of ecosystem goods and services on human health using causal criteria analysis

“…We found few papers linking floods to asthma. Only three of the four papers reviewed supported the linkage, while the fourth paper found a negative association (Park et al 2013). Of the supporting papers, one found that response was partially mediated by psychological distress, and that asthma negatively correlated to flooding depth, which contradicts their findings (Reacher et al 2004).…”