Enthalpy as an environmental parameter for healthy management decisions

Climatic changes have potential effects on human health, specifically effects related to the respiratory and the cardiac systems. The enthalpy can be an auxiliary to identify medical care in short time. This parameter can be used for management decisions and take preventive measurements in time, as hospital logistics. This study aimed to use the enthalpy as environmental parameter to evaluate the effect of seasonality on respiratory and cardiac symptoms in Botucatu, a Brazilian city with a tropical altitude climate. Results show that the air enthalpy profile through the year is situated within estimated thermal comfort levels, and reported hospitalizations have been more frequent during the cold season months. Through simple correlation analysis it was possible to identify that symptoms occur when the air enthalpy variation is smaller. Being a preliminary study, a deeper analysis is needed, taking other factors into consideration, such as thermal sensation indexes and hospitalization report dates.