Rabito Felicia A, Iqbal Shahed, Kiernan Michael P, Holt Elizabeth, Chew Ginger L
Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Mar;121(3):622-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2007.11.022. Epub 2008 Jan 7.
When the federal levee system broke after Hurricane Katrina, 80 percent of New Orleans, approximately 134,000 homes, flooded. As repopulation and revitalization activities continue, exposure to mold and other respiratory irritants has emerged as a major health concern; however, there has been no study examining children's respiratory health and indoor mold levels in the post-Katrina environment.
The Children's Respiratory Health Study was designed as a preliminary examination of indoor air levels of mold, children's lung function, and common indices of respiratory health in a select sample of children returning to live in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina.
Children were recruited from a private primary school in the Garden District of New Orleans. Respiratory health questionnaire and spirometric data were collected on children 7 to 14 years of age, and mold air sampling was conducted at baseline and again after 2 months.
There was an overall decrease in mold levels and respiratory symptoms over the study period, and indoor mold levels were low despite reported hurricane damage.
卡特里娜飓风过后，联邦防洪堤系统决堤，新奥尔良80%的地区（约13.4万处房屋）被洪水淹没。随着人口回迁和复兴活动的持续，接触霉菌和其他呼吸道刺激物已成为一个主要的健康问题；然而，尚未有研究考察卡特里娜飓风后环境中儿童的呼吸健康状况和室内霉菌水平。
儿童呼吸健康研究旨在对卡特里娜飓风过后立即返回新奥尔良居住的部分儿童样本的室内空气霉菌水平、儿童肺功能及呼吸健康常见指标进行初步检测。
从新奥尔良花园区的一所私立小学招募儿童。收集了7至14岁儿童的呼吸健康问卷和肺活量测定数据，并在基线时及2个月后进行了霉菌空气采样。
在研究期间，霉菌水平和呼吸道症状总体有所下降，尽管有报道称遭受了飓风破坏，但室内霉菌水平较低。
