Dataset Information

The impact of energy retrofits on pediatric asthma exacerbation in a Boston multi-family housing complex: a systems science approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Pediatric asthma is currently the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States, with children in lower income families disproportionately affected. This increased health burden is partly due to lower-quality and insufficient maintenance of affordable housing. A movement towards 'green' retrofits that improve energy efficiency and increase ventilation in existing affordable housing offers an opportunity to provide cost-effective interventions that can address these health disparities.

Methods

We combine indoor air quality modeling with a previously developed discrete event model for pediatric asthma exacerbation to simulate the effects of different types of energy retrofits implemented at an affordable housing site in Boston, MA.

Results

Simulation results show that retrofits lead to overall better health outcomes and healthcare cost savings if reduced air exchange due to energy-saving air tightening is compensated by mechanical ventilation. Especially when exposed to indoor tobacco smoke and intensive gas-stove cooking such retrofit would lead to an average annual cost saving of over USD 200, while without mechanical ventilation the same children would have experienced an increase of almost USD 200/year in health care utilization cost.

Conclusion

The combination of indoor air quality modeling and discrete event modeling applied in this paper can allow for the inclusion of health impacts in cost-benefit analyses of proposed affordable housing energy retrofits.

SUBMITTER: Tieskens KF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7883428 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The impact of energy retrofits on pediatric asthma exacerbation in a Boston multi-family housing complex: a systems science approach.

Tieskens Koen F KF Milando Chad W CW Underhill Lindsay J LJ Vermeer Kimberly K Levy Jonathan I JI Fabian M Patricia MP

Environmental health : a global access science source 20210214 1

<h4>Background</h4>Pediatric asthma is currently the most prevalent chronic disease in the United States, with children in lower income families disproportionately affected. This increased health burden is partly due to lower-quality and insufficient maintenance of affordable housing. A movement towards 'green' retrofits that improve energy efficiency and increase ventilation in existing affordable housing offers an opportunity to provide cost-effective interventions that can address these healt ...[more]

PMID: 33583411

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Project description:BackgroundIn infants, distinct nasopharyngeal bacterial microbiotas differentially associate with the incidence and severity of acute respiratory tract infection and childhood asthma development.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that distinct nasal airway microbiota structures also exist in children with asthma and relate to clinical outcomes.MethodsNasal secretion samples (n = 3122) collected after randomization during the fall season from children with asthma (6-17 years, n = 413) enrolled in a trial of omalizumab (anti-IgE) underwent 16S rRNA profiling. Statistical analyses with exacerbation as the primary outcome and rhinovirus infection and respiratory illnesses as secondary outcomes were performed. Using A549 epithelial cells, we assessed nasal isolates of Moraxella, Staphylococcus, and Corynebacterium species for their capacity to induce epithelial damage and inflammatory responses.ResultsSix nasal airway microbiota assemblages, each dominated by Moraxella, Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, Streptococcus, Alloiococcus, or Haemophilus species, were observed. Moraxella and Staphylococcus species-dominated microbiotas were most frequently detected and exhibited temporal stability. Nasal microbiotas dominated by Moraxella species were associated with increased exacerbation risk and eosinophil activation. Staphylococcus or Corynebacterium species-dominated microbiotas were associated with reduced respiratory illness and exacerbation events, whereas Streptococcus species-dominated assemblages increased the risk of rhinovirus infection. Nasal microbiota composition remained relatively stable despite viral infection or exacerbation; only a few taxa belonging to the dominant genera exhibited relative abundance fluctuations during these events. In vitro, Moraxella catarrhalis induced significantly greater epithelial damage and inflammatory cytokine expression (IL-33 and IL-8) compared with other dominant nasal bacterial isolates tested.ConclusionDistinct nasal airway microbiotas of children with asthma relate to the likelihood of exacerbation, rhinovirus infection, and respiratory illnesses during the fall season.

Dataset Information

The impact of energy retrofits on pediatric asthma exacerbation in a Boston multi-family housing complex: a systems science approach.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

The impact of energy retrofits on pediatric asthma exacerbation in a Boston multi-family housing complex: a systems science approach.

Similar Datasets

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