Researchers said that hot temperatures in late spring and summer were associated with higher emergency-room visits for children.
A growing body of evidence shows the dangers of heat to vulnerable populations, including children and adolescents. The effects of heat on children are different because of their body surface areas, body fat composition and hydration.
Dr. Bernstein is a doctor at the Boston Children's Hospital and one of the paper's authors. Their bodies suffer from some unique effects of heat.
The first comprehensive study on the effects of rising temperatures on people under the age of 18 was published in Environmental Health Perspectives. The authors analyzed data from four million emergency department visits at 47 children's hospitals.
Nearly 12 percent of emergency department visits could be attributed to elevated temperatures. Rates were higher for certain conditions. More than a third of emergency department visits for heat-related illness, like heat stroke and heat exhaustion, were attributed to heat.
Dr. Bernstein said that some of the infections that peaked in the summer could be related to the warm weather. Increased rates of ear infections could be a result of people spending more time in swimming pools, and the same could be said for the increase in the number of food poisoning cases.
Many of the findings were unexpected. The increased risk for children suffering from blood, immune and nervous-system diseases during periods of higher heat are not easily explained by changes in behavior and have not been seen in studies of adults.
Climate change is making heat waves and rising temperatures more frequent. That has consequences for human health.
Extreme heat can be dangerous for adults and can lead to excess deaths in vulnerable populations like older people. If people can't effectively sweat and cool off, they can become ill and die. The increase in internal body temperature can be caused by this.
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Cardiovascular and respiratory disorders can also be suffered by adults. A New York Times analysis found that the heat wave in the Pacific Northwest resulted in 600 more deaths than would have been expected.
A biostatistician at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health has studied the effects of extreme heat on human health. It should be a high priority for scientists to study the degree to which children are vulnerable to climate change.
The possibility of lifelong effects is one reason why it is important to study children. The question of which of the diseases that manifest on a hot day are completely cured with proper intervention and which may create chronic disease later in life is a very open research question.
Dr. Dominici said that the research could make clinicians and parents aware of the range of disorders that affect children during hotter temperatures. If we know what types of diseases are going to occur in kids, we can either prevent them or treat them.
Dr. Bernstein said that the research showed that the health care for children is not as good as it could be. Nonwhite children and those who rely on public health insurance were more likely to be affected by heat-related infections. He said that the data did not include visits to community hospitals or primary care appointments.
It's one thing when we see these inequalities at the end of life. For a child, we put them on a different course for the rest of their life.
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