Characterizing environmental asthma triggers and healthcare use patterns in Puerto Rico.

: Asthma carries a high burden of disease for residents of Puerto Rico. We conducted this study to better understand asthma-related healthcare use and to examine potential asthma triggers.: We characterized asthma-related healthcare use in 2013 by demographics, region, and date using outpatient, hospital, and emergency department (ED) insurance claims with a primary diagnostic ICD-9-CM code of 493.

Assessment of Vulnerability to Coccidioidomycosis in Arizona and California.

Coccidioidomycosis is a fungal infection endemic to the southwestern United States, particularly Arizona and California. Its incidence has increased, potentially due in part to the effects of changing climatic variables on fungal growth and spore dissemination. This study aims to quantify the county-level vulnerability to coccidioidomycosis in Arizona and California and to assess the relationships between population vulnerability and climate variability.