Algae blooms tied to high emergency costs.Blooms of K. brevis, a harmful marine algae algae (ăl`jē) [plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms. These organisms were previously classified as a primitive subkingdom of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes (plants that linked to respiratory illness Noun 1. respiratory illness - a disease affecting the respiratory system respiratory disease, respiratory disorder adult respiratory distress syndrome, ARDS, wet lung, white lung - acute lung injury characterized by coughing and rales; inflammation of the , have been linked to as much as $4 million in emergency department visits in Sarasota County, Fla., alone, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study in the August issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Researchers developed a statistical exposure-response model to test the hypothesis that K. brevis blooms were related to emergency department visits. The study found K. brevis cell counts, low air temperatures, influenza outbreaks, high pollen counts and tourist visits helped explain the number of respiratory-specific emergency department diagnoses in Sarasota County, Fla., from October 2001 through September 2006. The estimated costs of respiratory illness linked to K. brevis in that county alone ranged from $500,000 to $4 million, depending on bloom severity. Harmful algae blooms of K. brevis occur almost yearly in the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east off Florida's west coast. Such blooms not only sicken humans but can also kill fish, marine mammals marine mammals mammals inhabiting the sea; generally taken to include the cetaceans (whales, porpoise, dolphin), the sirenians (sea-cows, including manatees and dugong) and the pinnipeds (the carnivores of the group, seals, sealions, walruses). and sea birds. |
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