Background: Vector-borne diseases are climate-sensitive as vectors are poikilothermic. Among climatic factors, temperature is of prime importance as it affects vectors’ development and pathogen transmission as well. Therefore, the present... more
Background: Vector-borne diseases are climate-sensitive as vectors are poikilothermic. Among climatic factors, temperature is of prime importance as it affects vectors’ development and pathogen transmission as well. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to understand the impact of constant variable temperatures, and indoor versus outdoor temperatures on the survival of An. stephensi and Ae. aegypti and its implication on the transmission of malaria and dengue respectively.Method: Two to three days old laboratory-bred An. stephensi and Ae. Aaegypti female mosquitoes were kept individually in environmental chambers at different temperatures ranging from 32-42 °C and relative humidity i.e. 65-75 ± 5%. Control experiment was set up at 26 °C and 65-75% RH. Kaplan-Meier method was employed for estimation of survival probabilities and log-rank (Mantel-Cox test) for comparison, and Chi-square was determined. The daily recorded temperature was used to calculate extrinsic incubation per...
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India has witnessed a five-fold increase in dengue incidence in the past decade. However, the nation-wide distribution of dengue vectors, and the impacts of climate change are not known. Species distribution models are a novel approach... more
India has witnessed a five-fold increase in dengue incidence in the past decade. However, the nation-wide distribution of dengue vectors, and the impacts of climate change are not known. Species distribution models are a novel approach for determining the distribution of species based on biologically relevant environmental factors, and relies on known presence and absence locations of the species. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) contains 562 records of Aedes aegypti occurrence and 207 records of Aedes albopictus occurrence in India, most of which are derived from a large scale study that compiled the global geographic database of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus locations up to 2014, based on peer reviewed literature, national entomological surveys and expert networks. However, there was a need to update the occurrence locations after 2014. To overcome this knowledge gap, we compiled data on the occurrences of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus in India, based ...
Background: Malaria is one of the major public health problems in India and climate change is expected to aggravate the situation by opening new windows for transmission, particularlyin the Himalayan region. It is, therefore, essential to... more
Background: Malaria is one of the major public health problems in India and climate change is expected to aggravate the situation by opening new windows for transmission, particularlyin the Himalayan region. It is, therefore, essential to identify knowledge gapsand adaptive capacity of communities to the adverse impacts of climate change, to develop adaptation plan and improve resilience. Methods: The adaptive capacity to potential risks of malaria due to climate change was assessed in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, based on the knowledge, attitude, health seeking behaviour, practices and socio-economic status of the communities. The preparedness of health facilities was also assessed in the respective healthcare facilities in view of the threat of climate change. Results: Though communities had basic knowledge about malaria, lack of specific knowledge about breeding sources of mosquitoes, use of traditional protective measures (41%) from mosquito bites, delayed hea...
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Anopheles subpictus has been recognised as an important vector of malaria in Sri Lanka and some other countries like Malaysia and Maldives. It has been found to play an important role in malaria transmission as a secondary vector in... more
Anopheles subpictus has been recognised as an important vector of malaria in Sri Lanka and some other countries like Malaysia and Maldives. It has been found to play an important role in malaria transmission as a secondary vector in certain parts of Odisha and coastal areas of south India. An. subpictus is a widely distributed mosquito species that breeds in a variety of fresh as well as saline water habitats. The species is a complex of four sibling species provisionally designated as: sibling species A, B, C and D, but the role of these sibling species in malaria transmission is not clearly known. As there is limited research work available on this species in India, it was thought prudent to review the bionomics and the role of An. subpictus in malaria transmission in Indian context. Further studies are required on the bionomics of An. subpictus and its role in malaria transmission in other parts of the country under the influence of changing ecological conditions.
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Additional file 1. A figure file illustrating the major climate zones of India, highlighting the arid and semi-arid climate conditions that span most of the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in northwest India (adapted from the original... more
Additional file 1. A figure file illustrating the major climate zones of India, highlighting the arid and semi-arid climate conditions that span most of the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in northwest India (adapted from the original source in http://besttofind.com/Img/india_climate_map.jpg ).
Additional file 2. A figure file showing the monthly rainfall time series data for the four districts in their actual scale (the same data are also shown in Fig. 1 in relative scale with the dashed line).
Multilingual abstracts in the five official working languages of the United Nations. (PDF 461Â kb)
Dengue fever (DF) cases were reported in Delhi during August 2010. As the XIXth Commonwealth Games were to be held in Delhi in October 2010, entomological and community knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies were carried out to... more
Dengue fever (DF) cases were reported in Delhi during August 2010. As the XIXth Commonwealth Games were to be held in Delhi in October 2010, entomological and community knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies were carried out to assist the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for better implementation of vector control activities in the city. A total of 495 houses were searched for Aedes aegypti breeding in all kinds of temporary and permanent water receptacles in both indoors and outdoors in a thickly-populated, illegally-constructed locality, named Sangam Vihar, in south Delhi. The overall House Index (HI), Container Index (CI) and Breteau Index (BI) were 44.44%, 19.01 % and 91.92 respectively. For KAP, a pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Out of the 384 households surveyed, 156 were aware about dengue and only 12 households knew that virus was the causative agent for DF. A majority (378) of the households practised water storage and 48 of t...
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Background: Malaria is an erstwhile public health problem that is further compounded in India due to diverse climatic conditions, ecology, socio-developmental indicators and the imminent threat of climate change. Mapping of malaria risk... more
Background: Malaria is an erstwhile public health problem that is further compounded in India due to diverse climatic conditions, ecology, socio-developmental indicators and the imminent threat of climate change. Mapping of malaria risk using climatic and ecological factors has been assessed to some extent but the vulnerability by taking into consideration the human factors i.e. socio-economics and adaptive capacity, in climatically vulnerable areas is not known. The present communication deals with determining the risk and vulnerability at district level by taking into account the hazard due to climate change, population exposed, ecological sensitivity and the community’s adaptive capacity.Methods: Based on the IPCC framework, relevant indicators for the dimensions of risk (Hazard, Exposure, Sensitivity, Adaptive Capacity) were identified from literature and was used to develop indices. Data for each indicator was obtained through government websites. Weights for different indicato...
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The relationship between altitude, temperature and malaria are poorly understood. Hence, a study was undertaken at three sites of Udham Singh Nagar (erstwhile Nainital district) and Nainital district (Uttarakhand) during 2010- 11 for the... more
The relationship between altitude, temperature and malaria are poorly understood. Hence, a study was undertaken at three sites of Udham Singh Nagar (erstwhile Nainital district) and Nainital district (Uttarakhand) during 2010- 11 for the generation of evidences in the context of potential threat of climate change. Data on temperature and relative humidity (RH) were recorded through data-logger device in study villages at the altitudes of 166, 226 and 609 m were selected for detailed work. Mosquito collections were made fortnightly during 0600- 0800 hrs. Malaria incidence data were procured from concerned Primary Health Centres. The study provides evidences of decrease in temperature with increase in altitude, even within a district resulting in variation in temporal distribution of malaria vector. With the increase of 67 m altitude between plains and foothill village, there was a reduction in temperature to the tune of 1.1°C and with further increase in altitude of 416 m between foo...
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Research Interests: Geography, Computer Science, Climate variability, Nonlinear dynamics, Medicine, and 15 moreParameter estimation, India, Biological Sciences, Humans, Computer Simulation, Mathematical Sciences, Infectious Disease, Animals, Inverse Problem, Culicidae, Nonlinear system, Epidemics, Insect Vectors, dynamic model, and Malaria Falciparum
Karina F. Laneri 1 , Mercedes Pascual 2 , Anindya Bhadra 1 , Edward L. Ionides 1 , Menno J. Bouma 3 , Ramesh Dhiman 4 , and Rajpal ... Epidemic or unstable malaria occurs at the edge of the distribution of the disease in highland and... more
Karina F. Laneri 1 , Mercedes Pascual 2 , Anindya Bhadra 1 , Edward L. Ionides 1 , Menno J. Bouma 3 , Ramesh Dhiman 4 , and Rajpal ... Epidemic or unstable malaria occurs at the edge of the distribution of the disease in highland and desert fringes, where temperature or ...
The diseases originating from animals or associated with man and animals are remerging and have resulted in considerable morbidity and mortality. The present review highlights the re-emergence of emerging mainly zoonotic diseases like... more
The diseases originating from animals or associated with man and animals are remerging and have resulted in considerable morbidity and mortality. The present review highlights the re-emergence of emerging mainly zoonotic diseases like chikungunya, scrub typhus, and extension of spatial distribution of cutaneous leishmaniasis from western Rajasthan to Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Haryana states; West Nile virus to Assam, and non-endemic areas of Japanese encephalitis (JE) like Maharashtra and JE to Delhi; Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever making inroads in Ahmedabad; and reporting fifth parasite of human malaria with possibility of zoonosis have been highlighted, which necessitates further studies for prevention and control. Emphasis has been given on understanding the ecology of reservoir hosts of pathogen, micro niche of vector species, climatic, socioeconomic risk factors, etc. Development of facilities for diagnosis of virus from insects, reservoirs, and human beings (like BSL4, w...
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Additional file 3. A text file describing the models for Pf and Pv together with the measurement model. The file also contains a supplementary table showing the values of accuracy for predicting the occurrence of a large fall outbreak in... more
Additional file 3. A text file describing the models for Pf and Pv together with the measurement model. The file also contains a supplementary table showing the values of accuracy for predicting the occurrence of a large fall outbreak in a given year for the four districts and for past and future years.
Background: Rainfall variability and associated remote sensing indices for vegetation are central to the development of early warning systems for epidemic malaria in arid regions. The considerable change in land-use practices resulting... more
Background: Rainfall variability and associated remote sensing indices for vegetation are central to the development of early warning systems for epidemic malaria in arid regions. The considerable change in land-use practices resulting from increasing irrigation in recent decades raises important questions on concomitant change in malaria dynamics and its coupling to climate forcing. Here, the consequences of irrigation level for malaria epidemics are addressed with extensive time series data for confirmed Plasmodium falciparum monthly cases, spanning over two decades for five districts in north-west India. The work specifically focuses on the response of malaria epidemics to rainfall forcing and how this response is affected by increasing irrigation. Methods and Findings: Remote sensing data for the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are used as an integrated measure of rainfall to examine correlation maps within the districts and at regional scales. The analyses specifi...
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of dengue generally breeds in intradomestic and peridomestic containers made up of different materials, i.e. plastic, iron, rubber, earthen material etc. The material of container... more
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Aedes aegypti, the primary vector of dengue generally breeds in intradomestic and peridomestic containers made up of different materials, i.e. plastic, iron, rubber, earthen material etc. The material of container is likely to affect the temperature of water in container with variation in environmental temperature. The present study was aimed to determine the effect of different container materials on larval development of Ae. aegypti at different temperatures. METHODS Newly hatched I instar larvae (2-4 h old) were used in the study and experiments were conducted using three different containers made up of plastic, iron and earthen material. Three replicates for each type of container at 22, 26, 30, 34, 38, 40, and 42°C were placed in environmental chamber for the development of larvae. RESULTS At temperatures >22°C, 50% pupation was completed in earthen pot within 4.3±0.6 to 6.3±0.6 days followed by plastic containers (5±0 to 8±0 days) and iron containers...
Research Interests: Water, Biology, Medicine, Animals, Temperature, and 4 moreEcosystem, Larva, Vector borne diseases, and Aedes
Anopheles subpictus has been recognised as an important vector of malaria in Sri Lanka and some other countries like Malaysia and Maldives. It has been found to play an important role in malaria transmission as a secondary vector in... more
Anopheles subpictus has been recognised as an important vector of malaria in Sri Lanka and some other countries like Malaysia and Maldives. It has been found to play an important role in malaria transmission as a secondary vector in certain parts of Odisha and coastal areas of south India. An. subpictus is a widely distributed mosquito species that breeds in a variety of fresh as well as saline water habitats. The species is a complex of four sibling species provisionally designated as: sibling species A, B, C and D, but the role of these sibling species in malaria transmission is not clearly known. As there is limited research work available on this species in India, it was thought prudent to review the bionomics and the role of An. subpictus in malaria transmission in Indian context. Further studies are required on the bionomics of An. subpictus and its role in malaria transmission in other parts of the country under the influence of changing ecological conditions.
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Jharkhand is one of the highly malaria endemic states in India and experiencing vast ecological and human-induced changes over the years. These changes have provided more favourable conditions for malaria... more
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Jharkhand is one of the highly malaria endemic states in India and experiencing vast ecological and human-induced changes over the years. These changes have provided more favourable conditions for malaria transmission in the region. The present study was carried out to find out the distribution and prevalence of anopheline vector and non-vector species in District Ramgarh of Jharkhand state. METHODS Daytime indoor resting adult female anopheline mosquitoes were collected from four subcentres comprising of eight study villages in District Ramgarh. The collections were made from fixed as well as random human dwellings and cattlesheds on fortnightly basis using manual aspiration method from January to December 2012. Mosquito identification was done by using standard identification keys. RESULTS A total of 18,875 anophelines belonging to 19 species were collected. Of these, 61.87% were vector species (An. culicifacies, An. fluviatilis and An. annularis). Of total...
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An outbreak of Japanese encephalitis (JE) was reported in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India in May 2018 wherein a total of eight JE cases were reported by the state health department, of which seven cases were confirmed by ELISA.... more
An outbreak of Japanese encephalitis (JE) was reported in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India in May 2018 wherein a total of eight JE cases were reported by the state health department, of which seven cases were confirmed by ELISA. An entomological survey was carried out to investigate the presence of vector mosquitoes in the affected area. Field visits were undertaken in eight villages of two blocks in Solan district. Larval collections were made from the major aquatic sites and emerging mosquito species were identified. Seepage water ditches were the main source of JE vector mosquitoes Culex tritaeniorhynchus and Cx. bitaeniorhynchus. During hand catch collections of adult mosquitoes, three vector species of JE,Culex tritaeniorhynchus (Man Hour Density 1–14), Cx. vishnui (MHD 2) and Cx. bitaeniorhynchus (MHD 1–2) were collected. A few specimens of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus (6 no.) were also collected in light trap collections. Since this was the first reported outbreak of JE fro...
The article reports projection of malaria by 2030 using A1B scenario of PRECIS model basically derived from HadRM3. Malaria scenario has been defined in terms of opening of months of malaria transmission based on minimum required... more
The article reports projection of malaria by 2030 using A1B scenario of PRECIS model basically derived from HadRM3. Malaria scenario has been defined in terms of opening of months of malaria transmission based on minimum required temperature and relative humidity for baseline (1961–1990) and by 2030. Detailed analysis has been done for four vulnerable sectors, viz. Himalayan region, northeast, the Western Ghats and coastal region. Some parts of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to open transmission windows in new districts with increase in 4–6 months category of transmission. In the northeastern states, intensity of transmission is projected to increase from 7–9 months to 10–12 months. The Western Ghats is projected to be affected to a minimum, whereas in the east coastal districts, reduction in transmission months is likely due to increased temperature. As malaria transmission dynamics is multi-factorial, driven by agricultural practices, water availab...
Dengue fever (DF) cases were reported in Delhi during August 2010. As the XIXth Commonwealth Games were to be held in Delhi in October 2010, entomological and community knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies were carried out to... more
Dengue fever (DF) cases were reported in Delhi during August 2010. As the XIXth Commonwealth Games were to be held in Delhi in October 2010, entomological and community knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies were carried out to assist the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for better implementation of vector control activities in the city. A total of 495 houses were searched for Aedes aegypti breeding in all kinds of temporary and permanent water receptacles in both indoors and outdoors in a thickly-populated, illegally-constructed locality, named Sangam Vihar, in south Delhi. The overall House Index (HI), Container Index (CI) and Breteau Index (BI) were 44.44%, 19.01% and 91.92 respectively. For KAP, a pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Out of the 384 households surveyed, 156 were aware about dengue and only 12 households knew that virus was the causative agent for DF. A majority (378) of the households practised water storage and 48 of th...
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In this study, we utilized an untargeted NMR metabolomics approach to identify the vector response in terms of metabolic profiling after temperature and insecticide exposure in comparison with the control. Clearly, temperature and... more
In this study, we utilized an untargeted NMR metabolomics approach to identify the vector response in terms of metabolic profiling after temperature and insecticide exposure in comparison with the control. Clearly, temperature and insecticide exposure cause changes in the underlying metabolism, and the NMR metabolomic profile enables a direct examination of the immediate response of the vector to cope up with these changes. The present study was designed in four parts: A-Aedes aegypti were exposed to 40 °C for one-hour, DDT-4%, malathion-5%, and deltamethrin-0.05% separately and, part B-D; one-hour exposure at 35 °C and 40 °C temperatures followed by one-hour exposure to insecticide. The resultant metabolite profiles were compared with the control. In response to temperature and insecticide exposure, several metabolites and altered pathways were identified. Citrate, maltose, lipids, Nicotinate, Choline, Pyruvate and β-hydroxybutyrate were found as important components of major biolo...
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Background Dengue is rapidly expanding climate-sensitive mosquito-borne disease worldwide. Outbreaks of dengue occur in various parts of India as well but there is no tool to provide early warning. The current study was, therefore,... more
Background Dengue is rapidly expanding climate-sensitive mosquito-borne disease worldwide. Outbreaks of dengue occur in various parts of India as well but there is no tool to provide early warning. The current study was, therefore, undertaken to find out the link between El Niño, precipitation, and dengue cases, which could help in early preparedness for control of dengue.Methods Data on Oceanic Niño Index was extracted from CPC-IRI (USA) while the data on monthly rainfall was procured from India Meteorological Department. Data on annual dengue cases was taken from the website of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). Correlation analysis was used to analyse the relationship between seasonal +ONI, ‘rainfall index’ and ‘dengue case index’ based on past 20 years state-level data. The ‘dengue case index’ representing ‘relative deviation from mean’ was correlated to the 3 months average Oceanic Niño Index (ONI). The computed r values of ‘dengue case index’ and ‘+ONI’ ...
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Mapping the malaria risk at various geographical levels is often undertaken considering climate suitability, infection rate and/or malaria vector distribution, while the ecological factors related to topography and vegetation cover are... more
Mapping the malaria risk at various geographical levels is often undertaken considering climate suitability, infection rate and/or malaria vector distribution, while the ecological factors related to topography and vegetation cover are generally neglected. The present study abides a holistic approach to risk mapping by including topographic, climatic and vegetation components into the framework of malaria risk modelling. This work attempts to delineate the areas of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax malaria transmission risk in India using seven geo-ecological indicators: temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, forest cover, soil, slope, altitude and the normalized difference vegetation index using multi-criteria decision analysis based on geographical information system (GIS). The weight of the risk indicators was assigned by an analytical hierarchical process with the climate suitability (temperature and humidity) data generated using fuzzy logic. Model validation was do...
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The future implications of climate change on malaria transmission at the global level have already been reported, however such evidences are scarce and limited in India. Here our study aims to assess, identify and map the potential... more
The future implications of climate change on malaria transmission at the global level have already been reported, however such evidences are scarce and limited in India. Here our study aims to assess, identify and map the potential effects of climate change on Plasmodium vivax (Pv) and Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria transmission in India. A Fuzzy-based Climate Suitability Malaria Transmission (FCSMT) model under the GIS environment was generated using Temperature and Relative Humidity data, extracted from CORDEX South Asia for Baseline (1976–2005) and RCP 4.5 scenario for future projection by the 2030s (2021–2040). National malaria data were used at the model analysis stage. Model outcomes suggest that climate change may significantly increase the spatial spread of Pv and Pf malaria with a numerical increase in the transmission window’s (TW) months, and a shift in the months of transmission. Some areas of the western Himalayan states are likely to have new foci of Pv malaria tra...
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The present study was planned to characterize the microclimate experienced by Aedes larvae in different breeding habitats by determining the temperature variations in water kept in containers during different months under natural... more
The present study was planned to characterize the microclimate experienced by Aedes larvae in different breeding habitats by determining the temperature variations in water kept in containers during different months under natural conditions. The study was conducted in three municipal zones of Delhi. In each site, four types of container material (plastic, cement, iron and ceramic) were chosen for recording the water temperature in the containers. Daily air and water temperatures (mean, maximum and minimum values) recorded by HOBO and Tidbit data loggers, respectively, were compared using analysis of variance and Tukey’s honest significant difference (HSD) tests. Mean monthly temperature of water varied from 16.9 to 33.0 °C in tin containers, 17.3 to 35.6°C in plastic containers, 14.3 to 28.5°C in ceramic pots, 23.3 to 30.4°C in cemented underground tanks (UGT) and 15.8 to 35.1°C in cemented overhead tanks (OHTs). Corresponding values for the air temperature ranged from 17.7 to 36.1°...
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Uncertainty often arises in differentiating seasonal variation from outbreaks of malaria. The present study was aimed to generalize the theoretical structure of sine curve for detecting an outbreak so that a tool for early warning of... more
Uncertainty often arises in differentiating seasonal variation from outbreaks of malaria. The present study was aimed to generalize the theoretical structure of sine curve for detecting an outbreak so that a tool for early warning of malaria may be developed. A 'case/mean-ratio scale' system was devised for labelling the outbreak in respect of two diverse districts of Assam and Rajasthan. A curve-based method of analysis was developed for determining outbreak and using the properties of sine curve. It could be used as an early warning tool for Plasmodium falciparum malaria outbreaks. In the present method of analysis, the critical C(peak value of sine curve) value of seasonally adjusted curve for P. falciparum malaria outbreak was 2.3 for Karbi Anglong and 2.2 for Jaisalmer districts. On case/mean-ratio scale, the Cvalue of malaria curve between Cand 3.5, the outbreak could be labelled as minor while >3.5 may be labelled as major. In epidemic years, with mean of case/mean...
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The Ramgarh district of Jharkhand state, India is highly malarious owing to abundance of different malaria vector species, namely Anopheles culicifacies, An. fluviatilis and An. annularis. In spite of high prevalence of malaria vectors in... more
The Ramgarh district of Jharkhand state, India is highly malarious owing to abundance of different malaria vector species, namely Anopheles culicifacies, An. fluviatilis and An. annularis. In spite of high prevalence of malaria vectors in Ramgarh, their larval ecology and climatic conditions affecting malaria dynamics have never been studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the diversity of potential breeding habitats and breeding preferences of anopheline vectors in the Ramgarh district. Anopheles immature collection was carried out at potential aquatic habitats in Ramgarh and Gola sites using the standard dipper on fortnightly basis from August 2012 to July 2013. The immatures were reared till adult emergence and further identified using standard keys. Temperature of outdoor and water bodies was recorded through temperature data loggers, and rainfall through standard rain gauges installed at each site. A total of 6495 immature specimens representing 17 Anoph...
Research Interests: India, Anopheles, Female, Animals, Temperature, and 3 moreRain, Ecosystem, and Vector borne diseases
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Malaria is one of the six major vector-borne diseases in India, the endemicity of which changes with changes in ecological, climatic, and sociodevelopmental conditions. The anopheline vectors are greatly affected by ecological conditions... more
Malaria is one of the six major vector-borne diseases in India, the endemicity of which changes with changes in ecological, climatic, and sociodevelopmental conditions. The anopheline vectors are greatly affected by ecological conditions such as deforestation, urbanization, climate and lifestyle. Despite the advent of tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS), the updated information on the distribution of anopheline vectors of malaria is not available. In India, the plan for vector control is organized at subcentral level but information about vectors is unavailable even at the district level. Therefore, a systematic presentation of vector distribution has been made to provide maps in respect of major vector species. A search of the literature for major vector species, that is, Anopheles culicifacies, Anopheles fluviatilis, Anopheles stephensi, Anopheles minimus, and Anopheles dirus sensu lato, since 1927 till 2015 was carried out. Data have been presented as present, absen...
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The world population, especially in developing countries, has experienced a rapid progression of urbanization over the last half century. Urbanization has been accompanied by a rise in cases of urban infectious diseases, such as malaria.... more
The world population, especially in developing countries, has experienced a rapid progression of urbanization over the last half century. Urbanization has been accompanied by a rise in cases of urban infectious diseases, such as malaria. The complexity and heterogeneity of the urban environment has made study of specific urban centers vital for urban malaria control programs, whereas more generalizable risk factor identification also remains essential. Ahmedabad city, India, is a large urban center located in the state of Gujarat, which has experienced a significant Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum disease burden. Therefore, a targeted analysis of malaria in Ahmedabad city was undertaken to identify spatiotemporal patterns of malaria, risk factors, and methods of predicting future malaria cases. Malaria incidence in Ahmedabad city was found to be spatially heterogeneous, but temporally stable, with high spatial correlation between species. Because of this stability, a pred...