0
Letters |

Automobile Traffic, Atmospheric Pollution, and Childhood Asthma

Arthur E. Varner, MD
[+] Author Affiliations

Stephen J. Lurie, MD, PhDSenior Editor: IndividualAuthor
Jody W. Zylke, MDContributing Editor: IndividualAuthor

Copyright 2001 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Restrictions Apply to Government Use.

More Author Information
JAMA. 2001;285(21):2712-2713. doi:10.1001/jama.285.21.2712
Text Size: A A A
Published online

To the Editor: Dr Friedman and colleagues1 reported a reduction in asthma events in children in Atlanta during the Olympic games and related this to lower atmospheric levels of pollution and ozone that resulted from decreased automobile traffic. However, the baseline comparison of 4 weeks prior to and 4 weeks after the Olympics may have been inappropriate. In children, asthma exacerbations are commonly associated with both allergen exposure2 and viral infections.3 The time of the Olympics, from July 19 to August 4, is when one would expect the lowest asthma morbidity in regards to mold, pollen, dust mites, and respiratory viral infection exposure. Although mold counts were not significantly different in the 3 time periods, it appears from Figure 2 that significant peaks in mold counts occurred before and after the time of the Olympics. A more appropriate comparison would have been with the same time period in previous years.

REFERENCES

Friedman  MS, Powell  KE, Hutwagner  L, Graham  LM, Teague  WG. Impact of changes in transportation and communting behaviors during the 1996 summer Olympic games in Atlanta on air quality and childhood asthma. JAMA. 2001;285:897-905.
O'Hollaren  MT, Yunginger  JW, Offord  KP.  et al.  Exposure to an aeroallergen as a possible precipitating factor in respiratory arrest in young patients with asthma. N Engl J Med. 1991;324:359-363.
Johnston  SL, Pattemore  PK, Sanderson  G.  et al.  Community study of role of viral infections in exacerbations of asthma in 9-11 year old children. BMJ. 1995;310:1225-1229.

First Page Preview

First page PDF preview

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

Friedman  MS, Powell  KE, Hutwagner  L, Graham  LM, Teague  WG. Impact of changes in transportation and communting behaviors during the 1996 summer Olympic games in Atlanta on air quality and childhood asthma. JAMA. 2001;285:897-905.
O'Hollaren  MT, Yunginger  JW, Offord  KP.  et al.  Exposure to an aeroallergen as a possible precipitating factor in respiratory arrest in young patients with asthma. N Engl J Med. 1991;324:359-363.
Johnston  SL, Pattemore  PK, Sanderson  G.  et al.  Community study of role of viral infections in exacerbations of asthma in 9-11 year old children. BMJ. 1995;310:1225-1229.
CME Course for:


You need to register in order to view this quiz.


To understand the clinical management of acute heart failure syndromes.
Accreditation Information The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
To view and print your certificate and access a summary of your CME courses go to My CME.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Submit a Comment

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.