ArticlePloS one2013
The impact of the February 2012 cold spell on health in Italy using surveillance data.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed.
- Analysis of intra-annual mortality fluctuations by cause of death in Italy, 2004-19.European journal of public health · 2026Article
- Harvesting Effect and Extreme Temperature-Related Mortality in Italy.European journal of population = Revue europeenne de demographie · 2026Article
- The short-term effects of different cold spell definitions on asthma outpatient visits in Lanzhou, China.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2025Article
- Drivers of associations between daytime-nighttime compound temperature extremes and mortality in China.Communications medicine · 2024Article
- Effects of Environmental and Socioeconomic Inequalities on Health Outcomes: A Multi-Region Time-Series Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The adverse effect of ambient temperature on respiratory deaths in a high population density area: the case of Malta.Respiratory research · 2022Article
- Mortality Related to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of Multiple Causes of Death through Different Epidemic Waves in Veneto, Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Diabetes as a cause of death across different COVID-19 epidemic waves.Diabetes research and clinical practice · 2022Article
- Article
- Effect of Cold Spells and Their Different Definitions on Mortality in Shenzhen, China.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Temporal dynamics in total excess mortality and COVID-19 deaths in Italian cities.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Mortality impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak by sex and age: rapid mortality surveillance system, Italy, 1 February to 18 April 2020.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2020Article
- The Impact of Cold Spells on the Incidence of Infectious Gastroenteritis and Relapse Rates of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Retrospective Controlled Observational Study.Inflammatory intestinal diseases · 2017Article
- Extreme climatic conditions and health service utilisation across rural and metropolitan New South Wales.International journal of biometeorology · 2017Article
- Climate Change and Simulation of Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: A Case Study of Mashhad, Iran.Iranian journal of public health · 2017Article
- The impact of cold spells on mortality and effect modification by cold spell characteristics.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Effect of cold spells and their modifiers on cardiovascular disease events: Evidence from two prospective studies.International journal of cardiology · 2016Article
- Cardiovascular response to thermoregulatory challenges.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2015Review
- The linkage among ambulance transports, death and climate parameters in Asahikawa City, Japan.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2015Article
- Health impact of the 2008 cold spell on mortality in subtropical China: the climate and health impact national assessment study (CHINAs).Environmental health : a global access science source · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In February 2012 Italy was hit by an exceptional cold spell with extremely low temperatures and heavy snowfall. The aim of this work is to estimate the impact of the cold spell on health in the Italian cities using data from the rapid surveillance systems. In Italy, a national mortality surveillance system has been operational since 2004 in 34 cities for the rapid monitoring of daily mortality. Data from this system were used to evaluate the impact of the February 2012 cold spell on mortality shortly after the occurrence of the event. Furthermore, a cause-specific analysis was conducted in Roma using the Regional Mortality Registry and the emergency visits (ER) surveillance system. Cold spell episodes were defined as days when mean temperatures were below the 10(th) percentile of February distribution for more than three days. To estimate the impact of the cold spell, excess mortality was calculated as the difference between observed and daily expected values. An overall 1578 (+25%) excess deaths among the 75+ age group was recorded in the 14 cities that registered a cold spell in February 2012. A statistically significant excess in mortality was observed in several cities ranging from +22% in Bologna to +58% in Torino. Cause-specific analysis conducted in Roma showed a statistically significant excess in mortality among the 75+ age group for respiratory disease (+64%), COPD (+57%), cardiovascular disease +20% ischemic heart disease (14%) and other heart disease (+33%). Similar results were observed for ER visits. Surveillance systems need to become are a key component of prevention plans as they can help improve public health response and are a valid data source to rapidly quantify the impact on health. Cold-related mortality is still an important issue and should not be underestimated by public health Authorities.
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