A study, released in July 2025 by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, examined how neighborhood disadvantage influences the back-to-school increase in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits. Researchers analyzed health records from 2016 to 2019 across 3,053 census tracts in Texas, focusing on children ages 5–17. In low social vulnerability neighborhoods, ED visits rose by 378 per 100,000 person-years during back-to-school, while moderate-vulnerability areas saw 576 per 100,000 person-years. High-vulnerability areas experienced 879 per 100,000 person-years. These findings suggest that greater neighborhood disadvantage amplifies the seasonal spike in asthma exacerbations, likely due to increased viral infections.
Read the full research article here.
Read a news article on the research here.
