title: Short-term effects of atmospheric pressure, temperature, and rainfall on notification rate of community-acquired Legionnaires' disease in four European countries.
abstract: Legionnaires' disease (LD) is caused by the inhalation of aerosols containing Legionella, a Gram-negative bacteria. Previous national- or regional-level studies have suggested an impact of climate on LD incidence. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of temperature, rainfall, and atmospheric pressure on short-term variations in LD notification rate. EU/EEA Member States report their LD surveillance data to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Community-acquired LD cases reported by Denmark, Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands with onset date in 2007-2012 were aggregated by onset week and region of residence. Weather variables were extracted from the European Climate Assessment & Dataset project. We fitted Poisson regression models to estimate the association between meteorological variables and the weekly number of community-acquired LD cases. Temperature, rainfall and atmospheric pressure were all associated with LD risk with higher risk associated with simultaneous increase in temperature and rainfall. Temperatures >20 °C were not associated with a higher risk for LD. LD cases occurring during wintertime may be associated with sources less influenced by meteorological conditions.
authors: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC),Solna,Sweden.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Beauté
authors: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Sandin
authors: Statens Serum Institut (SSI),Copenhagen,Denmark.
authors: S A
authors: SA
authors: Uldum
authors: Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS),Rome,Italy.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Rota
authors: Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM),Bilthoven,The Netherlands.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Brandsema
authors: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Giesecke
authors: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Sparén
keywords: Environment and public health; Europe; Legionnaires' disease; surveillance