Climate and cholera in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: The role of environmental factors and implications for epidemic preparedness

Mendelsohn, Joshua; Dawson, Terence P.

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2006.12.002

Cited by 62 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…They resort to suspicious water found in shallow wells and urban streams that are highly polluted. This finding is also consistent with the conclusion of Mendelsohn & Dawson, (2008) who observe that cholera is a disease that is not only propagated by poor sanitation but also by poverty.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The rainy season results are consistent with results from other studies that hold that during the rainy season extreme rainfall can fill in sewage systems and this can in turn lead to wide scale seepage and flow of runoff into wells (Mendelsohn & Dawson, 2008). Singh et al, (2001) argued further that there is a strong link between extreme rainfall and diarrhoeal diseases in Fiji.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…This is so because at this time wide scale shortages of water cause the population to resort to doubtful sources of water. Inadequate rainfall can therefore lead to elevated incidences of cholera because of limited supplies of water; this is the reason why though the samples collected during the dry season show that just one well was fully positive for vibrio cholerae, such samples should be watched because they can easily revert to harbouring pathogenic strains of cholera (Mendelsohn & Dawson, 2008). According to Fernandez et al, (2009) the cholera epidemic often begins with a rise in temperature in the dry season and peaks up during floods in the rainy season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Well Water Quality and Public Health Implications: the Case of Four Neighbourhoods of the City of Douala Cameroon

Epule¹,

Peng²,

Wase³

et al. 2011

GJHS

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This paper analyses the quality of well water and population susceptibility to cholera outbreaks with respect to income levels in some neighbourhoods of the city of Douala Cameroon. Well water quality is degraded by faecal coliforms, this enhances out breaks of diarrhoeal diseases (cholera). Generally, the population is dominated by the poor who cannot afford pipe borne water, they resort to contaminated wells. To verify population perceptions of poverty and susceptibility to cholera, one hundred questionnaires were administered. To determine the presence of faecal coliforms in well water, forty well water samples were collected from the neighbourhoods. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the data while the water samples were subjected to microbiological analysis. The results show that, the presence of bacterial agents like vibrio cholerea, sucrose fermenting and non sucrose fermenting organisms in well water poses great health threats in the study area.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Well Water Quality and Public Health Implications: the Case of Four Neighbourhoods of the City of Douala Cameroon

Epule¹,

Peng²,

Wase³

et al. 2011

GJHS

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“…A recent study carried out in South Africa reports the association between cholera incidence and increased sea surface temperature and precipitation. 31 One of the limitations of our study was the unavailability of data on cholera cases between epidemics, which did not allow for analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) predictive models that would have represented a valuable tool for forecasting future cholera outbreaks in Lusaka.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of temperature and rainfall on the evolution of cholera epidemics in Lusaka, Zambia, 2003–2006: analysis of a time series

Fernández

Bauernfeind

Jiménez

et al. 2009

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygi

106

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“…Significant progress has since been made in modeling interannual variability of cholera epidemics in Bangladesh, employing mathematical models to reproduce the seasonal cycle of cholera (19,20). In one such study, a significant correlation was found between selected environmental variables, namely precipitation, SST, and CHL, with cholera cases in a single epidemic during 2000 -2001 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (21). In that analysis, SST and CHL data were estimated from satellite sensor measurements, and a conclusive finding was that robust predictive associations require multiyear analyses (21).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental signatures associated with cholera epidemics

Magny

Murtugudde

Sapiano

et al. 2008

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

258

112

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The causative agent of cholera, Vibrio cholerae, has been shown to be autochthonous to riverine, estuarine, and coastal waters along with its host, the copepod, a significant member of the zooplankton community. Temperature, salinity, rainfall and plankton have proven to be important factors in the ecology of V. cholerae, influencing the transmission of the disease in those regions of the world where the human population relies on untreated water as a source of drinking water. In this study, the pattern of cholera outbreaks during 1998 -2006 in Kolkata, India, and Matlab, Bangladesh, and the earth observation data were analyzed with the objective of developing a prediction model for cholera. Satellite sensors were used to measure chlorophyll a concentration (CHL) and sea surface temperature (SST). In addition, rainfall data were obtained from both satellite and in situ gauge measurements. From the analyses, a statistically significant relationship between the time series for cholera in Kolkata, India, and CHL and rainfall anomalies was determined. A statistically significant one month lag was observed between CHL anomaly and number of cholera cases in Matlab, Bangladesh. From the results of the study, it is concluded that ocean and climate patterns are useful predictors of cholera epidemics, with the dynamics of endemic cholera being related to climate and/or changes in the aquatic ecosystem. When the ecology of V. cholerae is considered in predictive models, a robust early warning system for cholera in endemic regions of the world can be developed for public health planning and decision making.ecology ͉ epidemiology ͉ microbiology ͉ remote sensing

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Climate and cholera in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: The role of environmental factors and implications for epidemic preparedness

Cited by 62 publications

References 12 publications

Well Water Quality and Public Health Implications: the Case of Four Neighbourhoods of the City of Douala Cameroon

Well Water Quality and Public Health Implications: the Case of Four Neighbourhoods of the City of Douala Cameroon

Influence of temperature and rainfall on the evolution of cholera epidemics in Lusaka, Zambia, 2003–2006: analysis of a time series

Environmental signatures associated with cholera epidemics

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