PMID- 34473685
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210903
LR  - 20240405
IS  - 1545-861X (Electronic)
IS  - 0149-2195 (Print)
IS  - 0149-2195 (Linking)
VI  - 70
IP  - 35
DP  - 2021 Sep 3
TI  - Evaluation of Syndromic Surveillance Data for Studying Harmful Algal 
      Bloom-Associated Illnesses - United States, 2017-2019.
PG  - 1191-1194
LID - 10.15585/mmwr.mm7035a2 [doi]
AB  - Harmful algal and cyanobacterial blooms (harmful algal blooms) are large colonies 
      of algae or cyanobacteria that can harm humans, animals, and the environment 
      (1-3). The number of algal blooms has been increasing in the United States, 
      augmented by increasing water temperatures and nutrients in water from industry 
      and agricultural run-off (4,5). The extent to which harmful algal bloom exposures 
      cause human illness or long-term health effects is unknown. As the number of 
      blooms increases annually, the likelihood of negative health outcomes (e.g., 
      respiratory or gastrointestinal illness) from exposure also increases (4,5). To 
      explore the utility of syndromic surveillance data for studying health effects 
      from harmful algal bloom exposures, CDC queried emergency department (ED) visit 
      data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) for harmful algal 
      bloom exposure-associated administrative discharge diagnosis codes and chief 
      complaint text terms related to harmful algal bloom exposure (6). A total of 321 
      harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits were identified during January 1, 
      2017-December 31, 2019. An increase in harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits 
      occurred during warmer months (June-October), consistent with seasonal 
      fluctuations of blooms and recent publications (6,7). Although syndromic 
      surveillance data are helpful for understanding harmful algal bloom-associated ED 
      visits in the United States, exposures were documented infrequently with 
      discharge diagnosis codes; 67% of harmful algal bloom-associated ED visits were 
      identified through querying chief complaint text. Improving the documentation of 
      harmful algal bloom exposures in medical records would further benefit future 
      health studies.
FAU - Lavery, Amy M
AU  - Lavery AM
FAU - Backer, Lorraine C
AU  - Backer LC
FAU - Roberts, Virginia A
AU  - Roberts VA
FAU - DeVies, Jourdan
AU  - DeVies J
FAU - Daniel, Johnni
AU  - Daniel J
CN  - DHSc1
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210903
PL  - United States
TA  - MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep
JT  - MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
JID - 7802429
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Aged
MH  - Child
MH  - Child, Preschool
MH  - Communicable Diseases/*epidemiology/therapy
MH  - Emergency Service, Hospital/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Environmental Exposure/*adverse effects
MH  - Female
MH  - *Harmful Algal Bloom
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Infant, Newborn
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Seasons
MH  - *Sentinel Surveillance
MH  - United States/epidemiology
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC8422869
COIS- All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical 
      Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No 
      potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
EDAT- 2021/09/03 06:00
MHDA- 2021/09/04 06:00
PMCR- 2021/09/03
CRDT- 2021/09/02 17:40
PHST- 2021/09/02 17:40 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/09/03 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/09/04 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/09/03 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - mm7035a2 [pii]
AID - 10.15585/mmwr.mm7035a2 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021 Sep 3;70(35):1191-1194. doi: 
      10.15585/mmwr.mm7035a2.