Spatial Variation in Humidity and the Onset of Seasonal Influenza Across the Contiguous United States.

ABSTRACT: In recent years, environmental factors, particularly humidity, have been used to inform influenza prediction models. This study aims to quantify the relationship between humidity and influenza incidence at the state-level in the contiguous United States. Piecewise segmented regressions were performed on specific humidity data from NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and incident influenza estimates from Google Flu Trends to identify threshold values of humidity that signal the onset of an influenza outbreak. Our results suggest that influenza incidence increases after reaching a humidity threshold that is state-specific. A linear regression showed that the state-specific thresholds were associated with annual average humidity conditions (R ² = 0.9). Threshold value

SUBMITTER: Serman E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8808265 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature