The use of remotely sensed environmental data in the study of malaria

Abstract

Abstract. Mapping and anticipating risk is a major issue in the fight against malaria, a disease causing an estimated one million deaths each year. Approximately half the world's population is at risk and it is of prime importance to evaluate the burden of malaria at the spatial as well as the temporal level. The role of the environment with regard to the determinants of transmission and burden of the disease are described followed by a discussion of special issues such as urban malaria, human population mapping and the detection of changes at the temporal scale. Risk maps at appropriate scales can provide valuable information for targeted control and the present review discusses the essentials of principles, methods, advantages and limitations of remote sensing along with a presentation of ecological, meteorological and climatologic data which rule the distribution of malaria. The panel of commonly used analytic methods is examined and the methodological limitations are highlighted. A review of the literature details the increasing interest in the use of remotely sensed data in the study of malaria, by mapping or modeling several malariometric indices such as prevalence, morbidity and mortality, which are discussed with reference to vector breeding, vector density and entomological inoculation rate, estimates of which constitute the foundation for understanding endemicity and epidemics.

Uso e cobertura do solo e prevalência de leishmaniose visceral canina em Teresina, Piauí, Brasil: uma abordagem utilizando sensoriamento remoto orbital

“…Spatial approaches to study the epidemiology of infectious diseases using GIS and RS to define high-risk areas for transmission have been used for quite some time 30,31 , mainly in studies on 30,32 . However, their use in the study of VL is much more recent and relatively infrequent, particularly in Brazil, where VL transmission is zoonotic 33 .…”

Spatial modelling of malaria risk factors in Ruhuha sector in the east of Rwanda

“…Malaria conceptual framework used in this study consists of five components ( Figure 1): (1) environmental variables which represent the main determinants for anopheles mosquito breeding sites (Machault et al, 2011;Nagasaki University, 2007); (2) the vector cycle (Stern et al, 2011;van Lishout, 2005), (4) the parasite cycle (Gahutu et al, 2011;Gascon et al, 1986); (4) demographic and socio-economic factors (J.-P. Bizimana et al, 2015;J. P. Bizimana et al, 2016) and; (5) vector control which consists of two methods.…”

Spatial and spatio-temporal analysis of malaria in the state of Acre, western Amazon, Brazil

“…As the malaria risk is also unevenly distributed in the endemic areas (Confalonieri, 2005), geographic information systems (GIS) are useful for spatial analysis because they allow surveying and understanding the epidemiological behaviour of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (Ceccato et al, 2005;Machault et al, 2011;Delgado-Petrocelli et al, 2011;Franke et al, 2015 ).…”