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Lane Kathryn

In winter, people are at risk for cold-related illness (CRI) such as hypothermia. Deaths coded as weather-related from 2006 through 2010 showed exposure to excessive cold as the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States.1 Therefore, the National Syndromic Surveillance Program Community of Practice (NSSP–CoP) worked with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) to create a standardized cold-related illness syndrome definition.

Submitted by elamb on
Description

Cold weather exposure-related injuries range from hypothermia to less severe conditions such as frost bite, trench foot, and chilblains, which are all preventable causes of mortality and morbidity. In recent years, NYC has successfully used syndromic surveillance of heat-related ED visits to inform emergency response during heat waves. Similar timely surveillance of cold-exposure related injuries could also inform public health protection measures during severe winter weather or cold season power outages. We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare hypothermia and cold-injury patient case characteristics, as well as temporal and meteorological correlates, between syndromic surveillance data and hospital discharge data.

Objective:

1) Develop cold exposure-related injury syndromic case definitions

2) use historical data to compare trends among cases identified in syndromic surveillance and cases identified in NY Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) hospital discharge data to evaluate representativeness and

3) develop regression models to examine relationships with cold weather conditions, and compare relationships across case definitions and data sources.

 

Submitted by Magou on

In general, data from public health surveillance can be used for short- and long-term planning and response through retrospective data analysis of trends over time or specific events. Combining health outcome data (e.g., hospitalizations or deaths) with environmental and socio-demographic information also provides a more complete picture of most vulnerable populations. Using syndromic surveillance systems for climate and health surveillance offers the unique opportunity to help quantify and track in near-real time the burden of disease from climate and weather impacts.

Submitted by uysz on