Yang Shao1,2, Meifang Li1,3,4, Jin Luo5, Le Yu6,7, Xia Li8. 1. School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330022, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China. 2. School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China. 3. Department of Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, 03755, USA. 4. Nanchang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanchang, 330038, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China. 5. School of Geography and Environment, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330022, Jiangxi, People's Republic of China. Luojin@jxnu.edu.cn. 6. Department of Earth System Science, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Earth System Modeling, Institute for Global Change Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China. 7. Ministry of Education Ecological Field Station for East Asian Migratory Birds, Beijing, 100084, China. 8. School of Geographic Sciences, Key Lab of Geographic Information Science (Ministry of Education), East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Dengue fever (DF), influenza, and hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) have had several various degrees of outbreaks in China since the 1900s, posing a serious threat to public health. Previous studies have found that these infectious diseases were often prevalent in the same areas and during the same periods in China. METHODS: This study combined traditional descriptive statistics and spatial scan statistic methods to analyze the spatiotemporal features of the epidemics of DF, influenza, and HFMD during 2013-2015 in mainland China at the provincial level. RESULTS: DF got an intensive outbreak in 2014, while influenza and HFMD were stable from 2013 to 2015. DF mostly occurred during August-November, influenza appeared during November-next March, and HFMD happened during April-November. The peaks of these diseases form a year-round sequence; Spatially, HFMD generally has a much higher incidence than influenza and DF and covers larger high-risk areas. The hotspots of influenza tend to move from North China to the southeast coast. The southeastern coastal regions are the high-incidence areas and the most significant hotspots of all three diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the three diseases can form a year-round sequence in southern China, and the southeast coast of China is a particularly high-risk area for these diseases. These findings may have important implications for the local public health agency to allocate the prevention and control resources.
BACKGROUND: Dengue fever (DF), influenza, and hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) have had several various degrees of outbreaks in China since the 1900s, posing a serious threat to public health. Previous studies have found that these infectious diseases were often prevalent in the same areas and during the same periods in China. METHODS: This study combined traditional descriptive statistics and spatial scan statistic methods to analyze the spatiotemporal features of the epidemics of DF, influenza, and HFMD during 2013-2015 in mainland China at the provincial level. RESULTS: DF got an intensive outbreak in 2014, while influenza and HFMD were stable from 2013 to 2015. DF mostly occurred during August-November, influenza appeared during November-next March, and HFMD happened during April-November. The peaks of these diseases form a year-round sequence; Spatially, HFMD generally has a much higher incidence than influenza and DF and covers larger high-risk areas. The hotspots of influenza tend to move from North China to the southeast coast. The southeastern coastal regions are the high-incidence areas and the most significant hotspots of all three diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that the three diseases can form a year-round sequence in southern China, and the southeast coast of China is a particularly high-risk area for these diseases. These findings may have important implications for the local public health agency to allocate the prevention and control resources.
Authors: Suyan Yi; Hongwei Wang; Shengtian Yang; Ling Xie; Yibo Gao; Chen Ma Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-02-17 Impact factor: 3.390