Indoor environmental exposures for children with asthma enrolled in the HEAL study, post-Katrina New Orleans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rain and flooding from Hurricane Katrina resulted in widespread growth of mold and bacteria and production of allergens in New Orleans, Louisiana, which may have led to increased exposures and morbidity in children with asthma.

Objectives

The goal of the Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) study was to characterize post-Katrina exposures to mold and allergens in children with asthma.

Methods

The homes of 182 children with asthma in New Orleans and surrounding parishes were evaluated by visual inspection, temperature and moisture measurements, and air and dust sampling. Air was collected using vacuum-pump spore traps and analyzed for > 30 mold taxa using bright field microscopy. Dust was collected from the children's beds and bedroom floors and

SUBMITTER: Grimsley LF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3556612 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature