Browsing by Author "Mathews, Shifali"
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Item El Niño Southern Oscillation, monsoon anomaly, and childhood diarrheal disease morbidity in Nepal(Oxford University Press, 2022-03-29) Adams, Nicholas; Dhimal, Meghnath; Mathews, Shifali; Iyer, Veena; Murtugudde, Raghu; Liang, Xin-Zhong; Haider, Muhiuddin; Cruz-Cano, Raul; Thu, Dang Thi Anh; Hashim, Jamal Hisham; Gao, Chuansi; Wang, Yu-Chun; Sapkota, AmirClimate change is adversely impacting the burden of diarrheal diseases. Despite significant reduction in global prevalence, diarrheal disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among young children in low- and middle-income countries. Previous studies have shown that diarrheal disease is associated with meteorological conditions but the role of large-scale climate phenomena such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and monsoon anomaly is less understood. We obtained 13 years (2002–2014) of diarrheal disease data from Nepal and investigated how the disease rate is associated with phases of ENSO (El Niño, La Niña, vs. ENSO neutral) monsoon rainfall anomaly (below normal, above normal, vs. normal), and changes in timing of monsoon onset, and withdrawal (early, late, vs. normal). Monsoon season was associated with a 21% increase in diarrheal disease rates (Incident Rate Ratios [IRR]: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.16–1.27). El Niño was associated with an 8% reduction in risk while the La Niña was associated with a 32% increase in under-5 diarrheal disease rates. Likewise, higher-than-normal monsoon rainfall was associated with increased rates of diarrheal disease, with considerably higher rates observed in the mountain region (IRR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.19–1.92). Our findings suggest that under-5 diarrheal disease burden in Nepal is significantly influenced by ENSO and changes in seasonal monsoon dynamics. Since both ENSO phases and monsoon can be predicted with considerably longer lead time compared to weather, our findings will pave the way for the development of more effective early warning systems for climate sensitive infectious diseases.Item Investigating the Intersection of Flood Risk and Environmental Justice in Maryland(2020) Acheampong, Maud; Cerpa, Candela; Cheng, Anna; Corrao, Nicolette; Krimm, Audrey; Mathews, Shifali; Mullen, Haley; Salami, Olasunbo; Zhang, Lynne; Zidar, Jaclyn; Goger, JoannaConsidering the implications of environmental justice, we sought to identify areas of Maryland with high socio-economic vulnerability, flood risk, and environmental risk to assess whether emergency preparedness policies in these areas were effective. We characterized this disparity based on a review of hazard mitigation policies in areas of Maryland that were susceptible to flood risk and toxic release. Our first phase of research determined which counties met our criteria of containing low-income, minority populations and being subject to flood risk. With the use of GIS technology to visualize pollution risk factors, we chose various counties in Maryland to use as our focus of comparison. The second phase analyzed emergency management plans for flooding and hazard mitigation policies of the selected counties. In our third and final phase, we interviewed officials or related personnel in the emergency preparedness policies and practices to gain a better understanding of the reality of their implementation. We found that Baltimore City, Dorchester County, Anne Arundel County, and Prince George’s County had high-risk factors for flooding and socioeconomic vulnerability and had less comprehensive emergency plans. Additionally, we found that the explicit mention of environmental justice was not a priority of most plans, creating space for future improvements and research.