The effects of ambient temperature on outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster in Shanghai, China: a time-series study.
BACKGROUND
The seasonality of varicella and herpes zoster has been widely observed, but there is limited evidence on their associations with ambient temperature.


OBJECTIVE
The associations between ambient temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster were examined.


METHODS
We collected daily outpatient visit data for varicella (N = 3520) and herpes zoster (N = 6614) from a major hospital in Shanghai, China, from 2008 to 2010. We adopted the generalized additive model in time-series analysis to investigate the short-term associations between temperature and outpatient visits for varicella and herpes zoster after controlling for seasonal trends, day of the week, and humidity.


RESULTS
A 1°C increase in daily mean temperature was associated with a 1.33% (95% confidence interval 0.93%-1.74%) decrease in outpatient visits for varicella whereas it was associated with a 2.18% (95% confidence interval 1.90%-2.46%) increase in outpatient visits for herpes zoster.


CONCLUSIONS
Only 1 hospital was included and we did not control for individual-level risk factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrated that temperature variation might be an important risk factor for varicella and herpes zoster in China.
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Yingying
Y
Yang
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Renjie
R
Chen
Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Jinhua
J
Xu
Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Qiao
Q
Li
Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professional and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Xiaohui
X
Xu
Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Health Professional and College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Sandie
S
Ha
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Weimin
W
Song
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Meteorological and Health, Shanghai, China.
Jianguo
J
Tan
Department of Dermatology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: xufeng@medmail.com.cn.
Feng
F
Xu
School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of the Ministry of Education and Key Laboratory of Health Technology Assessment of the Ministry of Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: kanh@fudan.edu.cn.
Haidong
H
Kan
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002644:Chickenpox / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006562:Herpes Zoster / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012621:Seasons; D013696:Temperature
herpes zoster; outpatient visits; risk factor; temperature; varicella