"Sickenin' in the rain" - increased risk of gastrointestinal and respiratory infections after urban pluvial flooding in a population-based cross-sectional study in the Netherlands.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Climate change is expected to increase the chance of extreme rainfall events in the Northern Hemisphere and herewith, there is an increased chance of urban pluvial flooding. Urban pluvial flooding often consists of street flooding and/or flooding of combined sewerage systems, leading to contamination of the floodwater with several gastrointestinal and/or respiratory pathogens. An increase in flooding events therefore pose a health risk to those exposed to urban floodwater. We studied the association between exposure to pluvial floodwater and acute gastroenteritis (AGE) and acute respiratory infection (ARI).

Methods

We performed a retrospective, cross-sectional survey during the summer of 2015 in 60 locations in the Netherlands with reported flooding. Two weeks aft

SUBMITTER: Mulder AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6498475 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature