Spatiotemporal variation of hand-foot-mouth disease in relation to socioecological factors: A multiple-province analysis in Vietnam.

BACKGROUND

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is a significant public health issue in Asia-pacific countries. Numerous studies have examined the relationship between socio-ecological factors and HFMD however the research findings were inconsistent. This study examined the association between socio-ecologic factors and HFMD in multiple provinces across Vietnam.

METHODS

We applied a spatial autoregressive model using a Bayesian framework to examine the relationship between HFMD and socio-demographic factors. We used a Generalized Linear Model (GLD) with Poisson family to examine the province-specific association between monthly HFMD and climatic factors while controlling for spatial lag, seasonality and long-term trend of HFMD. Then, we used a random-effect meta-analysis to generate pooled effect size of climate-HFMD association for regional and country scale.

RESULTS

One percent increase in newborn breastfed within 1h of birth, households with permanent houses, and households accessed to safe water resulted in 1.57% (95% CI: -2.25, -0.93), 0.96% (-1.66, -0.23), and 1.13% (-2.16, -0.18) reduction in HFMD incidence, respectively. At the country-level, HFMD increased 7% (RR: 1.07; 95%CI: 1.052-1.088) and 3.1% (RR: 1.031, 95%CI: 1.024-1.039) for 1°C increase in monthly temperature above 26°C and 1% increase in monthly humidity above 76%. Whereas, HFMD decreased 3.1% associated with 1mm increase in monthly cumulative rainfalls. The climate-HFMD relationship was varied by regions and provinces across the country.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings reflect an important implication for the climate change adaptation strategies and public-health decision, of which development of weather-based early warning systems should be considered to strengthen communicable disease prevention system.