Health effects of exposure to water-damaged New Orleans homes six months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the relation between respiratory symptoms and exposure to water-damaged homes and the effect of respirator use in posthurricane New Orleans, Louisiana.


METHODS
We randomly selected 600 residential sites and then interviewed 1 adult per site. We created an exposure variable, calculated upper respiratory symptom (URS) and lower respiratory symptom (LRS) scores, and defined exacerbation categories by the effect on symptoms of being inside water-damaged homes. We used multiple linear regression to model symptom scores (for all participants) and polytomous logistic regression to model exacerbation of symptoms when inside (for those participating in clean-up).


RESULTS
Of 553 participants (response rate = 92%), 372 (68%) had participated in clean-up; 233 (63%) of these used a respirator. Respiratory symptom scores increased linearly with exposure (P < .05 for trend). Disposable-respirator use was associated with lower odds of exacerbation of moderate or severe symptoms inside water-damaged homes for URS (odds ratio (OR) = .51; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.24, 1.09) and LRS (OR = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.13, 0.83).


CONCLUSIONS
Respiratory symptoms were positively associated with exposure to water-damaged homes, including exposure limited to being inside without participating in clean-up. Respirator use had a protective effect and should be considered when inside water-damaged homes regardless of activities undertaken.
Cummings
Kristin J
KJ
Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. cvx5@cdc.gov
Cox-Ganser
Jean
J
Riggs
Margaret A
MA
Edwards
Nicole
N
Hobbs
Gerald R
GR
Kreiss
Kathleen
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004190:Disasters; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012120:Respiration Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012134:Respiratory Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014505:Urban Population