Abstract
Delinquent Mortgages, Neglected Swimming Pools, and West Nile Virus, California
Highlights
The Reisen et al report reflects the utility and limitations of ecologic studies and the legitimacy of simultaneously concluding that study findings are “hypothesis generating” from a scientific perspective yet sufficiently plausible to prompt public health interventions from a practical perspective
The report demonstrates the value of synthesizing multiple streams of surveillance data, observations from field investigations, and contextual awareness of community events to generate hypotheses that bear exploration—in this case, the hypothesis that increases in mosquito habitats resulting from abandonment of swimming pools cause increases in the incidence of West Nile virus (WNV) cases
This question was not definitively answered because the study could not directly assess the putative link between disease and exposures to WNV-infected mosquitoes that had bred in abandoned swimming pools in California
Summary
The Reisen et al report reflects the utility and limitations of ecologic studies and the legitimacy of simultaneously concluding that study findings are “hypothesis generating” from a scientific perspective yet sufficiently plausible to prompt public health interventions from a practical perspective. This question was not definitively answered because the study could not directly assess the putative link between disease and exposures to WNV-infected mosquitoes that had bred in abandoned swimming pools in California.
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