Two clustering diffusion patterns identified from the 2001-2003 dengue epidemic, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
This study analyzed the spatio-temporal patterns of 4,587 (94% of the total) confirmed dengue cases in Kaohsiung and Fengshan Cities (a two-city area) that occurred in Taiwan from 2001 to 2003. The epidemic had two simultaneous distinct diffusion patterns. One was a contiguous pattern, mostly limited to 1 km from an initial cluster, reflecting that there was a rapid dispersal of infected Aedes aegypti and viremic persons. The second followed a relocation pattern, involving clusters of cases that diffused over 10 weeks starting from the southern and moving to the northern parts of the two-city area. The virus from one clustering site jumped to several distant areas where it rapidly dispersed through a series of human-mosquito transmission cycles to several localities. In both patterns, transmission of disease quickly enlarged the epidemic areas. Future dengue control efforts would benefit from a timely syndromic surveillance system plus extensive public education on how to avoid further transmission.
Kan
Chih-Chun
CC
Graduate Institute of Life Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Lee
Pei-Fen
PF
Wen
Tzai-Hung
TH
Chao
Day-Yu
DY
Wu
Min-Huei
MH
Lin
Neal H
NH
Huang
Scott Yan-Jang
SY
Shang
Chuin-Shee
CS
Fan
I-Chun
IC
Shu
Pei-Yun
PY
Huang
Jyh-Hsiung
JH
King
Chwan-Chuen
CC
Pai
Lu
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000330:Aedes / Q000821:virology; D017677:Age Distribution; D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors