MedWire News: The raging wildfires that devastated areas of Southern California in 2003 led to a significant increase in respiratory health problems among people living in the US state, research shows.

“This data has broad policy implications, as the health impact of wildfires will probably increase worldwide due to the effects of global warming,” warned lead researcher Dr Ralph Delfino from the University of California in Irvine.

The research also indicates the importance of educating people with existing respiratory health problems to take precautionary measures to safeguard their health in areas prone to wildfires.

As there is limited information on the public health impact of wildfires, Dr Delfino and team analysed data on more than 40,000 hospital admissions in Southern California during a month-and-a-half period before, during and after the wildfires that burned nearly 750,000 acres and destroyed approximately 5000 buildings in 2003.

The researchers also used satellite images to link hospital data to daily air-particle concentrations at the postal codes of patients' homes throughout Southern California.

Analysis revealed that there was a dramatic increase the number of people with respiratory disorders who sought hospital treatment during and after the wildfires.

Indeed, heavy smoke pollution from the wildfires resulted in a 34% increase in asthma admissions, a 67% increase in acute bronchitis admissions, a 48% increase in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease admissions and a 45% increase in pneumonia admissions.

The hardest hit patients were young children and the elderly, the team reports in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Dr Delfino concluded: “It’s important to learn from this study that large-scale wildfires can have wide-ranging effects on human health.

“It will be vital to educate those at risk with existing respiratory conditions to react quickly at the earliest signs of symptoms with preventive interventions.”