https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2021.1008

Detecting dengue outbreaks in Malaysia using geospatial techniques

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2021)
Submitted: 14 April 2021
Accepted: 9 August 2021
Published: 3 November 2021
Geography information system, spatial analysis, health geography, epidemiology study, dengue study, Malaysia.
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Authors

Syahrul Nellis
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2549-8509
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia.
Shih Keng Loong
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7511-860X
Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia.
Juraina Abd-Jamil
Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia.
Rosmadi Fauzi
Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sazaly AbuBakar
sazaly@um.edu.my
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya; Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya, Malaysia.

Dengue is a complex disease with an increasing number of infections worldwide. This study aimed to analyse spatiotemporal dengue outbreaks using geospatial techniques and examine the effects of the weather on dengue outbreaks in the Klang Valley area, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Daily weather variables including rainfall, temperature (maximum and minimum) and wind speed were acquired together with the daily reported dengue cases data from 2001 to 2011 and converted into geospatial format to identify whether there was a specific pattern of the dengue outbreaks. The association between these variables and dengue outbreaks was assessed using Spearman's correlation. The result showed that dengue outbreaks consistently occurred in the study area during a 11-year study period. And that the strongest outbreaks frequently occurred in two high-rise apartment buildings located in Kuala Lumpur City centre. The results also show significant negative correlations between maximum temperature and minimum temperature on dengue outbreaks around the study area as well as in the area of the high-rise apartment buildings in Kuala Lumpur City centre.

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How to Cite

Nellis, S., Loong, S. K., Abd-Jamil, J. ., Fauzi, R., & AbuBakar, S. (2021). Detecting dengue outbreaks in Malaysia using geospatial techniques. Geospatial Health, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2021.1008

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