Epidemiological Analysis Of Hemorrhagic Fever With Renal Syndrome In Beijing Using Spatial Information Technologies

The objectives of this study were to characterize the spatial distribution of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Beijing, a new endemic area of China, to determine the attributable environmental factors, and to identify the high-risk regions for targeting interventions based spatial information technologies.HFRS geographic information system was first established after collecting cases and correlated environmental information. In this system, data about HFRS of Beijing can be managed and searched; also maps about HFRS epidemiologic features can be created.Using GIS technologies and spatial autocorrelation analysis, SaTScan statistic, we investigated the spatial distribution of HFRS in Beijing. Results showed that HFRS cases in Beijing were spatially autocorrelated, clustered in 3 regions involving 41 townships, which were all connected and most of these townships located on the east, north fringe of urban area under rapid development.Then, the geographical environmental information was collected and extracted from remote sensing data, the associations between HFRS incidence and land use, elevation, normalized difference vegetation index were estimated through Spearman correlation analysis and cluster ananlysis. Results showed HFRS incidence was positively correlated with the percentage of built-up land, water area, irrigable land, garden land and rice field. HFRS incidence in mix built and irrigated area is highest. These findings implied that environmental factors contribute to HFRS infection in Beijing.In conclusion, this study has identified the distribution of HFRS in Beijing and its related risk factors. These findings have significant applications for prevention and control of the disease.