Assessing the prevalence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) using geospatial density and distribution techniques

Abstract

The prevalence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) cases in Malaysia is now rising as reported by several sources such as the mass media and Internet. In this study, the prevalence of HFMD in Johor is comprehensively studied using geospatial density and distribution techniques to assess the prevalence of HFMD in Johor. Three objectives were designed for this study. The first objective was to conduct a needs assessment for identifying the requirement of a geospatial database of HFMD prevalence at Johor. The second objective aimed to develop a geospatial database for Johor HFMD cases. The last, which is the third objective, was to analyze the prevalence of HFMD in Johor via geospatial density and distribution techniques using open source software. This study is significant in order to provide the information of HFMD prevalence to the Department of Health Johor. The result indicates that the disease can occur throughout the year, however it reaches peak in February and March, of which is during the dry season. Concurrently, the distribution of HFMD cases in Johor exhibited a clustered pattern., which most mean centres and standard deviation ellipses occurred at similar areas. The direction of the standard deviation ellipses also oriented towards the northwest of Johor. Furthermore, this study identified the most common areas for the prevalence of HFMD cases in Johor, which is Johor Bahru. As a conclusion, this study achieves the entire objectives. Therefore, this study is expected to assist the Department of Health Johor in order to fulfill their needs.