Quantification of Rotavirus Diarrheal Risk Due to Hydroclimatic Extremes Over South Asia: Prospects of Satellite‐Based Observations in Detecting Outbreaks

Authors

M. Alfi Hasan, University of Rhode Island
Colleen B. Mouw, University of Rhode IslandFollow
Antarpreet Jutla
Ali S. Akanda, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of Original Version

2017

Department

Oceanography

Abstract

Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrheal disease among children under 5. Especially in South Asia, rotavirus remains the leading cause of mortality in children due to diarrhea. As climatic extremes and safe water availability significantly influence diarrheal disease impacts in human populations, hydroclimatic information can be a potential tool for disease preparedness. In this study, we conducted a multivariate temporal and spatial assessment of 34 climate indices calculated from ground and satellite Earth observations to examine the role of temperature and rainfall extremes on the seasonality of rotavirus transmission in Bangladesh. We extracted rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Measurement and temperature data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors to validate the analyses and explore the potential of a satellite‐based seasonal forecasting model. Our analyses found that the number of rainy days and nighttime temperature range from 16°C to 21°C are particularly influential on the winter transmission cycle of rotavirus. The lower number of wet days with suitable cold temperatures for an extended time accelerates the onset and intensity of the outbreaks. Temporal analysis over Dhaka also suggested that water logging during monsoon precipitation influences rotavirus outbreaks during a summer transmission cycle. The proposed model shows lag components, which allowed us to forecast the disease outbreaks 1 to 2 months in advance. The satellite data‐driven forecasts also effectively captured the increased vulnerability of dry‐cold regions of the country, compared to the wet‐warm regions.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Hasan, M. A., Mouw, C., Jutla, A., & Akanda, A. S. ( 2018). Quantification of rotavirus diarrheal risk due to hydroclimatic extremes over South Asia: Prospects of satellite‐based observations in detecting outbreaks. GeoHealth, 2, 70– 86. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GH000101

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GH000101

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Comment

M. Alfi Hasan and Ali S. Akanda are from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Colleen B. Mouw is from the Graduate School of Oceanography.