Researcher Database
Last Updated :2024/10/19
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Profile and Settings
Affiliation
Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy（2021/09 Kyoto University）
- Master of Science（2018/05 Asian Institute of Technology）
- Bachelor of Science (Public health)（2016/08 Thammasat University）
Profile and Settings
Name (Japanese)
UttajugName (Kana)
AthichaName
202201008182782167
Alternate Names
Affiliation
Achievement
Research Interests
- Air pollution Vegetation fire events Particulate matter Epidemiology Extreme climate events Infectious diseases Climate change
Research Areas
Research Experience
- 2022/04 - Today Hokkaido University Department of Hygiene Spacially appointed assistant professor
- 2021/10 - 2022/03 Hokkaido University Department of Hygiene Postdoctoral researcher
Education
- 2018/10 - 2021/09 Kyoto University Environmental Engineering
- 2016/08 - 2018/05 Asian Institute of Technology Environmental Engineering and Management
- 2012/08 - 2016/05 Thammasat University Public Health Environmental Health
Awards
Published Papers
- Athicha Uttajug, Xerxes Seposo, Arthit Phosri, Vera Ling Hui Phung, Muhammad Abdul Basit Ahmad Tajudin, Kayo UedaEnvironmental Science & Technology 0013-936X 2024/05/28 [Refereed]
- Wahida Musarrat Anita, Athicha Uttajug, Xerxes Tesoro Seposo, Kengo Sudo, Makiko Nakata, Toshihiko Takemura, Hirohisa Takano, Taku Fujiwara, Kayo UedaEnvironmental Research 2024/05
- Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Seposo, Joel Msafiri FrancisBMJ Open 2023/04 [Refereed][Not invited]
- Wahida Musarrat Anita, Kayo Ueda, Athicha Uttajug, Xerxes Tesoro Seposo, Hirohisa TakanoInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 2023/02/13 [Refereed]
- Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa TakanoScientific Reports 12 (1) 2045-2322 2022/11/02Abstract The air quality in Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) deteriorates during seasonal vegetation fire events, causing adverse effects especially on respiratory health outcomes. This study aimed to quantitatively estimate respiratory morbidity from vegetation fire smoke exposure, and to assess the impact of a burning ban enforced in 2016 on morbidity burden in UNT. We computed daily population exposure to fire-originated PM10 and estimated its health burden during a 5-year period from 2014 to 2018 using daily fire-originated PM10 concentration and the concentration–response function for short-term exposure to PM10 from vegetation fire smoke and respiratory morbidity. In subgroups classified as children and older adults, the health burden of respiratory morbidity was estimated using specific effect coefficients from previous studies conducted in UNT. Finally, we compared the health burden of respiratory morbidity before and after burning ban enforcement. Approximately 130,000 hospital visits for respiratory diseases were estimated to be attributable to fire-originated PM10 in UNT from 2014 to 2018. This estimation accounted for 1.3% of total hospital visits for respiratory diseases during the 5-year period, and 20% of those during burning events. Age-specific estimates revealed a larger impact of PM10 in the older adult group. The number of hospital visits for respiratory diseases attributable to fire-originated PM10 decreased from 1.8% to 0.5% after the burning ban policy was implemented in the area. Our findings suggest that PM10 released from vegetation fires is a health burden in UNT. The prohibition of the burning using regulatory measure had a positive impact on respiratory morbidity in this area.
- Vera Ling Hui Phung, Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Nina Yulianti, Mohd Talib Latif, Daisuke NaitoPLOS ONE 17 (9) e0274433 - e0274433 2022/09/15 [Refereed][Not invited]
Smoke haze due to vegetation and peatland fires in Southeast Asia is a serious public health concern. Several approaches have been applied in previous studies; however, the concepts and interpretations of these approaches are poorly understood. In this scoping review, we addressed issues related to the application of epidemiology (EPI), health burden estimation (HBE), and health risk assessment (HRA) approaches, and discussed the interpretation of findings, and current research gaps. Most studies reported an air quality index exceeding the ‘unhealthy’ level, especially during smoke haze periods. Although smoke haze is a regional issue in Southeast Asia, studies on its related health effects have only been reported from several countries in the region. Each approach revealed increased health effects in a distinct manner: EPI studies reported excess mortality and morbidity during smoke haze compared to non-smoke haze periods; HBE studies estimated approximately 100,000 deaths attributable to smoke haze in the entire Southeast Asia considering all-cause mortality and all age groups, which ranged from 1,064–260,000 for specified mortality cause, age group, study area, and study period; HRA studies quantified potential lifetime cancer and non-cancer risks due to exposure to smoke-related chemicals. Currently, there is a lack of interconnection between these three approaches. The EPI approach requires extensive effort to investigate lifetime health effects, whereas the HRA approach needs to clarify the assumptions in exposure assessments to estimate lifetime health risks. The HBE approach allows the presentation of health impact in different scenarios, however, the risk functions used are derived from EPI studies from other regions. Two recent studies applied a combination of the EPI and HBE approaches to address uncertainty issues due to the selection of risk functions. In conclusion, all approaches revealed potential health risks due to smoke haze. Nonetheless, future studies should consider comparable exposure assessments to allow the integration of the three approaches. - Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Tesoro Seposo, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa TakanoInternational Journal of Epidemiology 0300-5771 2022/02/04 [Refereed]
Abstract Background Upper Northern Thailand (UNT) has been episodically affected by air pollution from vegetation burning, which causes adverse respiratory health effects. However, no study has evaluated the effect of regulatory actions to prohibit vegetation burning on respiratory morbidity. We examined the effect of a burning ban enforced in May 2016 on hospital visits for respiratory diseases in UNT.Methods This study used data from eight provinces in UNT. Analyses were conducted for January to April of 2014–2016 (before ban enforcement) and January to April of 2017–2018 (after ban enforcement). Particulate matter of 10 microns in diameter or smaller (PM10) concentrations, numbers of satellite fire hotspots and age-standardized rates of hospital visits for respiratory diseases before and after ban enforcement were compared. The effect of the ban on hospital visits for respiratory diseases was evaluated using an interrupted time-series analysis controlled for season-specific temporal trends, day of week, public holiday, temperature, relative humidity, number of hospitals and offset population, with gastrointestinal diseases as a negative control. A meta-analysis was performed to pool province-specific effect estimates.Results The daily average PM10 concentration and the number of fire hotspots decreased after ban enforcement in all provinces in UNT, with percent changes ranging from 5.3 to 34.3% and 14.3 to 81.5%, respectively. The adjusted pooled effect estimates of hospital visits for respiratory diseases decreased by 9.1% (95% CI: 5.1, 12.9), whereas a null association was observed for gastrointestinal diseases.Conclusion The burning ban had a positive impact on both air pollution levels and rates of hospital visits for respiratory diseases in UNT. - Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Kei Oyoshi, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa TakanoScience of The Total Environment 764 142923 - 142923 0048-9697 2021/04 [Refereed]
Few studies have focused on the effects of exposure to air pollutants from vegetation fire events (including forest fire and the burning of crop residues) among children. In this study we aimed to investigate the association between PM₁₀ concentrations and hospital visits by children to address respiratory disease, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis. We examined and compared these associations by the presence of vegetation fire events on a given day (burning, non-burning, and mixed) across the upper northern region of Thailand from 2014 through 2018. A vegetation burning was defined when a fire hotspot (obtained from NASA-MODIS) exceeded the 90th percentile of the entire region and PM₁₀ concentration was over 100 μg/m³. To determine the association between hospital visits among children with PM₁₀ concentrations on burning and non-burning days, we performed a time-stratified case-crossover analysis fitted with conditional logistic regression for each province. A random-effects meta-analysis was applied to pool province-specific effect estimates. The number of burning days ranged from 64 to 139 days across eight provinces. A 10 μg/m³ increase in PM₁₀ concentration on a burning day was associated with a respiratory disease-related hospital visit at lag 0 (OR = 1.01 (95% CIs: 1.00, 1.02)). This association was not observed for hospital visits related to conjunctivitis and dermatitis. A positive association was also observed between PM₁₀ concentration on non-burning days and hospital visits related to respiratory disease at lag 0 (OR = 1.03 (95% CIs: 1.02, 1.04)). Hospital visits for conjunctivitis and dermatitis were significantly associated with PM₁₀ concentration at lag 0 on both non-burning and mixed days.
Books etc
- Global Environmental Research: Air pollution from vegetation fire and its health effects in Asia(Joint work)
Association of International Research Initiatives for Environmental Studies (AIRIES) 2024/03
Presentations
- Effects of Rainfall on Ambulance Onsite Arrival Times in Japan [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Xerxes Seposo, Muhammad Abdul Basit Ahmad Tajudin, Asuna Arai, Kayo UedaISEE-AWPC AND ISES-AC 2024 2024/06
- Effects of co-exposure to air pollution from vegetation fires and extreme heat on mortality in Upper Northern Thailand [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Xerxes Seposo, Arthit Phosri, Vera Ling Hui Phung, Muhammad Abdul Basit Ahmad Tajudin, Kayo UedaThe 34rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Epidemiological Association 2024/02
- Short-term exposure to PM2.5 from vegetation fire events and mortality in Upper Northern Thailand [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Xerses Teroso Seposo, Arthit Phosri, Vera Ling Hui Phung, Muhammad Abdul Basit Ahmad Tajudin, Kayo UedaThe 35th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2022) 2023/09
- Association between extreme rainfall and acute respiratory infection in sub-Saharan Africa [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Seposo, Joel Msafiri FrancisThe 93rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Hygiene 2023/03
- Temperature and emergency ambulance dispatch in Japan: Effect modifications by city-characteristics [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Seposo, Junichi Susaki, Yusuke Kimura, Masahiro Hashizume, Chris FS NgThe 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Epidemiological Association 2023/02
- Diarrhea in children under 5 years and extreme precipitation in Nigeria [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Tesoro Seposo, Joel Msafiri FrancisThe 34th Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE 2022) 2022/09
- Drought and diarrhea among under-5 years children in India [Not invited]Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Xerxes Tesoro SeposoISEE-AWPC & ISEE-AC Joint Conference 2022/06
- Air pollutants from vegetation fire events and respiratory diseases in Phayao, ThailandAthicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa Takano第32回日本疫学会学術総会 運営事務局 2022/01
- Assessment of respiratory morbidity burden from exposure to vegetation fire-PM2.5 in Upper Northern Thailand for the year 2018Athicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa TakanoISEE 21 New York City 2021/08
- Effect of a prohibited vegetation fire events on hospital visits for respiratory diseases in Chiang Rai province, ThailandAthicha Uttajug, Kayo Ueda, Akiko Honda, Hirohisa Takano第91回日本衛生学会学術総会
- Acute effect of particle compositions on emergency ambulance dispatches in Osaka, JapanISEE-ISES AC, Daegu, Korea 2019