title: The association between diurnal temperature range and childhood bacillary dysentery.
abstract: Previous studies have found that mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures were associated with bacillary dysentery (BD). However, little is known about whether the within-day variation of temperature has any impact on bacillary dysentery. The current study aimed to identify the relationship between diurnal temperature range (DTR) and BD in Hefei, China. Daily data on BD counts among children aged 0-14 years from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2012 were retrieved from Hefei Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Daily data on ambient temperature and relative humidity covering the same period were collected from the Hefei Bureau of Meteorology. A Poisson generalized linear regression model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used in the analysis after controlling the effects of season, long-term trends, mean temperature, and relative humidity. The results showed that there existed a statistically significant relationship between DTR and childhood BD. The DTR effect on childhood bacillary dysentery increased when DTR was over 8 °C. And it was greatest at 1-day lag, with an 8% (95% CI = 2.9-13.4%) increase of BD cases per 5 °C increment of DTR. Male children and children aged 0-5 years appeared to be more vulnerable to the DTR effect. The data indicate that large DTR may increase the incidence of childhood BD. Caregivers and health practitioners should be made aware of the potential threat posed by large DTR. Therefore, DTR should be taken into consideration when making targeted health policies and programs to protect children from being harmed by climate impacts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Li-ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Hefei Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Anhui Province, Hefei, 230061, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Ke-fu
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Hui-hui
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China.
authors.forename: Ke-sheng
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, QLD, 4509, Australia.|Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, QLD, 4509, Australia.
authors.forename: Zhi-wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China. suhong5151@sina.com.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006813:Humidity; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D013696:Temperature
keywords: Bacillary dysentry; Childhood; Climate change; Diurnal temperature range; Hefei