title: Filaria monitoring visualization system: a geographical information system-based application to manage lymphatic filariasis in Andhra Pradesh, India.
abstract: Among various public health diseases, filariasis constitutes a major public health problem in India, wherein an estimated 553.7 million people are at risk of infection. The aim of this article is to present a spatial mapping and analysis of filariasis data over a 3-year period (2004-2007) from Karimnagar, Chittoor, East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh, India. The data include epidemiological and entomological studies (i.e., infection rate, infectivity rate, mosquito per man hour, and microfilaria rate). These parameters were customized on Geographical Information System (GIS) platform and developed filaria monitoring visualization system (FMVS) for identifying the endemic/risk areas of filariasis among these four districts. GIS map for filariasis transmission from the study areas was created and stratified into different spatial entities like low, medium, and high risk zones. On the basis of the data and FMVS maps, it was demonstrated that filariasis remained unevenly distributed within the districts. Balancing the intervention coverage in different villages with overall mass drug administration and continued promotion of the proper use of control measures are necessary for further reduction of filarial cases in these districts.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Group, Biology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology-CSIR, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. murty_usn@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Suryanaryana Murty
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Upadhyayula
authors.forename: Srinivasa Rao
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Mutheneni
authors.forename: Sriram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumaraswamy
authors.forename: Madhusudhan Rao
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kadiri
authors.forename: Sampath Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pabbisetty
authors.forename: Venkata Suryanarayana Murthy
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Yellepeddi
mesh_terms: D004605:Elephantiasis, Filarial / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012984:Software; D014584:User-Computer Interface