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Upcoming presentations at the American Public Health Association 137th Annual Meeting & Expo, Philadelphia, PA, November 7-11, 2009

This year the members of InForMID will deliver a series of oral and poster presentations. We will also organize a mini-symposium on November 11. For the most updated schedule, click the "Abstract" hyperlink after each title.

Oral presentations

Chui KKH*, Naumova EN. Associations between temperature, excessive heat events, and infectious gastroenteritis in US elderly Abstract

Cohen SA. Demographic dynamics impacting the physician and nursing shortage predicted to to provide care for US seniors: General solutions and urban-rural disparities Abstract

Cohen SA*, Naumova EN. Age-period-cohort analysis of influenza and pneumonia in US seniors, 1991-2004 Abstract

Cohen SA*, Naumova EN. Influenza vaccination in children reduces influenza-associated hospitalizations in seniors, 2002-06 Abstract Award Winner!!

*: Presenting author

Poster presentations

Chui KKH*, Naumova EN. Seasonality of ill-defined gastrointestinal infections: Can we guess what we do not know Abstract

Jagai J*, Naumova EN. Hospitalization for Clostridium Difficile in the US elderly: Associations with livestock operations Abstract

Naumova E*, Naumova EN. Holiday meals: Salmonella outbreaks in hospitals and prisons Abstract

Wenger JB. Looking at the world through a windshield: Experiences of long-haul truck drivers Abstract

Wenger JB. Seasonal synchronization of influenza in the United States older adult population Abstract Award Winner!!

*: Presenting author

Special session orgnized by InForMID

5100.0 Waterborne diseases: Seasonality and environmental associations
Organizer: Elena Naumova, PhD
Moderator: Jyotsna Jagai, MS, MPH

Background:
Worldwide diarrheal disease is a primary cause of morbidity and mortality. In the US it is estimated that 76 million cases of illness and 5,000 deaths are caused by food and waterborne gastrointestinal (GI) infections and young children and the elderly are both vulnerable populations. The incidence of waterborne disease (WBD) is shown to be sensitive to climate and weather; WDB typically demonstrates seasonal fluctuations suggesting strong effects of environmental drivers for these diseases. However, the seasonal patterns and their link to environmental exposures, climate characteristics, water source and water quality parameters are not fully understood. This session uses an interdisciplinary approach to discuss the seasonality and environmental drivers for waterborne diseases. The session will illustrate current seasonal patterns in waterborne diseases and suggest environmental drivers such as meteorological and hydrological parameters. The session will also discuss novel epidemiological and statistical methods for assessing and properly controlling for seasonality. Inadequate control for seasonality may result in residual confounding in epidemiological studies. Despite well-established seasonal trends in health outcome (e.g., infectious disease and reproductive effects) and exposure data, few studies have adequately controlled for seasonality. Exposure to waterborne contaminants can be influenced by seasonal fluctuations in pathogen or chemical concentration data, as well as behavioral factors such as water intake and recreational activities. The session will draw on the field of environmental engineering to provide a description of how the progression and control of a waterborne epidemic involves understanding and predicting the transport and fate of pathogens through two systems: the water distribution network (rivers, groundwater, wells, pipes, sewers, etc.) and the human population. The session will also provide an assessment of the change in disease patterns in association with hydrological parameters. Overall, this session will provide a forum for those from different disciplines, including environmental epidemiology, civil and environmental engineering, and biostatistics, to address seasonality in WBD and environmental associations. The findings presented in this invited session will emphasize the relevance and importance of such associations for public health policy, control and prevention of waterborne diseases.

Speakers:
10:30 AM
Naumova EN. Contribution of Environmental Drivers to Seasonality of Waterborne Infections: Novel Methodologies for Assessment (Oral presentation) Abstract

10:45 AM
Chui KKH*, Griffiths JK, Naumova EN. Seasonality of Viral GI in the US elderly (Oral presentation) Abstract

11:00 AM
Wright JM. Confounding by Time-varying covariates in Epidemiological Studies of Waterborne Contaminants (Oral presentation) Abstract

11:15 AM
Chapra S*, Gute DM, McBride GB. Dynamic Model of the Evolution of an Epidemic Down an Urbanized River System (Oral presentation) Abstract

11:30 AM
Jagai J*, Griffiths JK, Kirshen PH, Webb P, Naumova EN. Variations in Seasonal Patterns of Gastrointestinal Infections within a Watershed (Oral presentation) Abstract

*: Presenting author