June 27, 2013
In what researchers say is the first public health study
of the aerial mosquito spraying method to prevent West Nile virus, a UC Davis
study analyzed emergency department records from Sacramento area hospitals
during and immediately after aerial sprayings in the summer of 2005. Physicians
and scientists from the university and from the California
Department of Public Health found no increase in specific diagnoses
that are considered most likely to be associated with pesticide exposure,
including respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin, eye and neurological conditions.
The study evaluated emergency room visits in Sacramento
County hospitals on days that pesticides were sprayed as well as the three days
following spraying.
The study appears in the May-June 2013
issue of Public Health Reports.
This week, mosquito control officials said the region’s
recent rainstorms and warming temperatures have increased stagnant water and
favorable conditions for mosquitoes, which will likely magnify the incidence
West Nile virus and the risks of human transmission. The mosquito-borne disease
first appeared in the state about 10 years ago. It already has been detected in
dead birds and mosquitoes in at least 10 counties in recent weeks, including
Sacramento and Yolo. However, the adult mosquito population has yet to increase
to levels that require aerial spraying over heavily urbanized areas as was done
in the Sacramento region in previous years…..To Read More….
No comments:
Post a Comment