Details:

Alternative Title:
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
Publisher's site:
http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/MMWRmm7035a2
Personal Author:
Lavery, Amy M. ; Backer, Lorraine C. ; Roberts, Virginia A. ; DeVies, Jourdan ; Daniel, Johnni
Lavery, Amy M. ; Backer, Lorraine C. ; Roberts, Virginia A. ; DeVies, Jourdan ; Daniel, Johnni Less -
Description:
Harmful algal and cyanobacterial blooms (harmful algal blooms) are large colonies of algae or cyanobacteria that can harm humans, animals, and the environment (1-3). The number of algal blooms has been increasing in the U.S. augmented by increasing water temperatures and nutrients in water from industry and agricultural run-off (4,5). The extent to which harmful algal bloom exposures cause human illness or long-term health effects is unknown. As the number of blooms increases annually, the likelihood of negative health outcomes (e.g., respiratory or gastrointestinal illness) from exposure also increases (4,5). To explore the utility of syndromic Surveillance data for studying health effects from harmful algal bloom exposures, CDC queried emergency department (ED) visit data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (U.S.) (NSSP) for harmful algal bloom exposure-associated administrative discharge Diagnosis codes and chief complaint text terms related to harmful algal bloom exposure (6). A total of 321 harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits were identified during January 1, 2017-December 31, 2019. An increase in harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits occurred during warmer months (June-October), consistent with seasonal fluctuations of blooms and recent publications (6,7). Although syndromic Surveillance data are helpful for understanding harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits in the U.S. exposures were documented infrequently with discharge Diagnosis codes; 67% of harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits were identified through querying chief complaint text. Improving the documentation of harmful algal bloom exposures in medical records would further benefit future health studies.
Subjects:
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Adolescent Adult Aged Child Child, Preschool Communicable Diseases Emergency Service, Hospital Environmental Exposure Female Harmful Algal Bloom Humans Infant Infant, Newborn Male Middle Aged Seasons Sentinel Surveillance Young Adult
Source:
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 70(35):1191-1194
Pubmed ID:
34473685
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC8422869
Document Type:
Journal Article
Place as Subject:
U.S.
Collection(s):
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:a3aa347759c2b3d3c053259b57052041639a17fe493c60adbf5260c018ef0ff3
Download URL:
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/110229/cdc_110229_DS1.pdf
File Type:

Supporting Files

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