Influence of weather on incidence of bronchiolitis in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to examine the impact of weather on hospital admissions with bronchiolitis in Australia and New Zealand. Methods: We collected data for inpatient admissions of infants aged 2–12 months to seven hospitals in four cities in Australia and New Zealand from 2009 until 2011. Correlation of hospital admissions with minimum daily temperature, wind speed, relative humidity and rainfall was examined using linear, Poisson and negative binomial regression analyses as well as general estimated equation models. To account for possible lag between exposure to weather and admission to hospital, analyses were conducted for time lags of 0–4 weeks. Results: During the study period, 3876 patients ..