Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41333709›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open2026

Concurrent Viral Transmission and Wildfire Smoke Events Following COVID-19 Pandemic School Closures in New York City: Associations of a Large Natural Experiment With Acute Care for Pediatric Asthma, 2018-2023.

Sarah McCuskee, Rishi Kowalski, Cindy Mei, Alexis Zebrowski, Aman Patel, Lauren Zajac, Hashem Zikry, Ali Ayyash, Nicholas DeFelice

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Sarah McCuskeeDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Rishi KowalskiDepartment of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Cindy MeiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Alexis ZebrowskiDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Aman PatelDepartment of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Lauren ZajacDepartment of Environmental Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Hashem ZikryNational Clinician Scholars Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Ali AyyashDepartment of Pulmonary, Sleep, and Allergy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Nicholas DeFeliceArnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.

Funding

The Mount Sinai Transdisciplinary Center on Early Environmental ExposuresP30ES023515 · NIEHS · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Rosalind J Wright · 2014 to 2026
$21.3M
Pandemic preparedness in schools: A community based approach for sentinel surveillanceK25HD109509 · NICHD · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Nicholas B DeFelice · 2022 to 2026
$656k
NICHD NIH HHS K25 HD109509NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES023515
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objectives: Pediatric asthma is multifactorial: social, environmental, and infectious exposures trigger exacerbations. School COVID-19 policies, including closures, mask mandates, and reopenings, provide a natural experiment to discover associations between the severity of pediatric asthma exacerbations, viral transmission, and exposure to wildfire smoke. We investigated the epidemiology of acute unscheduled care for asthma in children aged 5 to 17 years, including emergency department (ED) visits, hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and viral testing. Methods: This observational study used a retrospective review of all electronic health records from New York City's largest health system over 5 school years, from 2018 to 2023. Comparison groups included citywide surveillance data and all-cause visits. We investigated population-level exposures, including COVID-19 mitigation policies and wildfire smoke events. Results: In the postpandemic period, fewer children presented to the ED for asthma ( Conclusion: Viral transmission and school policies were associated with pediatric asthma exacerbations during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased acuity, despite lower volumes, may help guide health systems as they strive to increase readiness to care for pediatric populations in response to future pandemics or environmental exposures.

Indexed as

asthmaCOVID-19 pandemicenvironmental exposurespediatricsrespiratory viruseswildfire smoke

Identifiers

PMID41333709
PMCPMC12666338

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.