title: Potential impacts of climate variability on respiratory morbidity in children, infants, and adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether climate variability influences the number of hospitalizations for respiratory diseases in infants, children, and adults in the city of Campo Grande, Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used daily data on admissions for respiratory diseases, precipitation, air temperature, humidity, and wind speed for the 2004-2008 period. We calculated the thermal comfort index, effective temperature, and effective temperature with wind speed (wind-chill or heat index) using the meteorological data obtained. Generalized linear models, with Poisson multiple regression, were used in order to predict hospitalizations for respiratory disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The variables studied were (collectively) found to show relatively high correlation coefficients in relation to hospital admission for pneumonia in children (R² = 68.4%), infants (R² = 71.8%), and adults (R² = 81.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate a quantitative risk for an increase in the number of hospitalizations of children, infants, and adults, according to the increase or decrease in temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed, and thermal comfort index in the city under study.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Tecnologias Ambientais, Centro de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brasil. amaury.de@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Amaury de
authors.initials: Ad
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Widinei Alves
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Hamilton Germano
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Pavão
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lastoria
authors.forename: Edilce do Amaral
authors.initials: Edo A
authors.lastname: Albrez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D013697:Thermosensing / Q000502:physiology; D014887:Weather; D055815:Young Adult