Use of GIS Mapping for HFMD Cases in Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

GIS is widely used to observe health data. However, there is limited study of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) focusing into this area. This study aim to describe the disease spread geographically in eleven divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia. GIS was used to observe the spatial pattern of the disease in Sarawak from year 2006 to 2013. A Spatial Analyst tool of ArcGIS software was applied to locate and present if any potential clustering of HFMD occur between the divisions. An Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) spatial interpolation method was used to illustrate HFMD spread in the state. This study also observes the locality factors that could influence by the disease. The urban divisions show a high-risk pattern of HFMD during the outbreak year when we used the number of notified cases as the basis. However, there is no significant difference of urban and rural population when IDW was applied to the incidence proportion of HFMD (p-value = 0.84). From this study, we found that GIS approach is very useful to the health authorities before they decide to implement any activities in reducing the disease transmission for the particular area.