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Background: The proportion of intense tropical cyclones is expected to increase in a changing climate. However, there is currently no consistent and comprehensive assessment of infectious disease risk following tropical cyclone exposure across countries and over decades. We aimed to explore the tropical cyclone-associated hospitalisation risks and burden for cause-specific infectious diseases on a multi-country scale., Methods: Hospitalisation records for infectious diseases were collected from six countries and territories (Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Thailand, and Viet Nam) during various periods between 2000 and 2019. The days with tropical cyclone-associated maximum sustained windspeeds of 34 knots or higher derived from a parametric wind field model were considered as tropical cyclone exposure days. The association of monthly infectious diseases hospitalisations and tropical cyclone exposure days was first examined at location level using a distributed lag non-linear quasi-Poisson regression model, and then pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. The tropical cyclone-attributable number and fraction of infectious disease hospitalisations were also calculated., Findings: Overall, 2·2 million people who were hospitalised for infectious diseases in 179 locations that had at least one tropical cyclone exposure day in the six countries and territories were included in the analysis. The elevated hospitalisation risks for infectious diseases associated with tropical cyclones tended to dissipate 2 months after the tropical cyclone exposure. Overall, each additional tropical cyclone day was associated with a 9% (cumulative relative risk 1·09 [95% CI 1·05-1·14]) increase in hospitalisations for all-cause infectious diseases, 13% (1·13 [1·05-1·21]) for intestinal infectious diseases, 14% (1·14 [1·05-1·23]) for sepsis, and 22% (1·22 [1·03-1·46]) for dengue during the 2 months after a tropical cyclone. Associations of tropical cyclones with hospitalisations for tuberculosis and malaria were not significant. In total, 0·72% (95% CI 0·40-1·01) of the hospitalisations for all-cause infectious diseases, 0·33% (0·15-0·49) for intestinal infectious diseases, 1·31% (0·57-1·95) for sepsis, and 0·63% (0·10-1·04) for dengue were attributable to tropical cyclone exposures. The attributable burdens were higher among young populations (aged ≤19 years) and male individuals compared with their counterparts, especially for intestinal infectious diseases. The heterogeneous spatiotemporal pattern was further revealed at the country and territory level-tropical cyclone-attributable fractions showed a decreasing trend in South Korea during the study period but an increasing trend in Viet Nam, Taiwan, and New Zealand., Interpretation: Tropical cyclones were associated with persistent elevated hospitalisation risks of infectious diseases (particularly sepsis and intestinal infectious diseases). Targeted interventions should be formulated for different populations, regions, and causes of infectious diseases based on evidence on tropical cyclone epidemiology to respond to the increasing risk and burden., Funding: Australian Research Council, Australian National Health, and Medical Research Council., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Indigenous Australians have greater stroke mortality rates than non-Indigenous people (97% Indigenous Australians are aged <65 years). Quality of care in hospital is an important factor for avoiding death and disability. No national review of acute stroke care for Indigenous Australians is available., Aims: We aimed to compare adherence with clinical processes and outcomes among Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients with acute stroke admitted to hospital., Methods: Hospitals participating in the National Stroke Audit of acute services in 2009 that provided data for at least one Indigenous patient were included (n = 33, 37%). Differences in death/dependency (modified Rankin Score 3-6) at discharge were determined using two-level multivariate analysis adjusting for hospital site and patient variables. A matched subgroup analysis in those aged 18 to 64 years was also undertaken., Results: Among 1162 eligible patients (60% male; 18-64 years n = 305), 7% were Indigenous (18-64 years: 18%). Indigenous patients had a greater prevalence of stroke risk factors, e.g. diabetes, more had intracerebral hemorrhages (25% vs. 16% non-Indigenous, P = 0.05), and were less likely be treated in a stroke unit and receive timely allied health assessments than non-Indigenous patients. Indigenous patients aged 18-64 years had a threefold odds of dying or being dependent at discharge (Adjusted odds ratio = 3.09, 95% confidence interval = 1.07-8.95)., Conclusions: Australian Indigenous patients with stroke received a reduced quality of care in hospitals and experienced worse outcomes than non-Indigenous patients. Indigenous patients require the provision of evidence-based care to increase their opportunities for optimal health outcomes following stroke. Further research to explain the differences is needed., (© 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2012 World Stroke Organization.)