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Rainfall Anomalies and Typhoid Fever in Blantyre, Malawi.

Gauld, Jillian S, Bilima, Sithembile, Diggle, Peter J, Feasey, Nicholas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4041-1405 and Read, Jonathan M (2022) 'Rainfall Anomalies and Typhoid Fever in Blantyre, Malawi.'. Epidemiology and Infection, Vol 150, Issue e122, pp. 1-6.

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Abstract

Typhoid fever is a major cause of illness and mortality in low- and middle-income settings. We investigated the association of typhoid fever and rainfall in Blantyre, Malawi, where multi-drug-resistant typhoid has been transmitting since 2011. Peak rainfall preceded the peak in typhoid fever by approximately 15 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) 13.3, 17.7], indicating no direct biological link. A quasi-Poisson generalised linear modelling framework was used to explore the relationship between rainfall and typhoid incidence at biologically plausible lags of 1–4 weeks. We found a protective effect of rainfall anomalies on typhoid fever, at a two-week lag (P = 0.006), where a 10 mm lower-than-expected rainfall anomaly was associated with up to a 16% reduction in cases (95% CI 7.6, 26.5). Extreme flooding events may cleanse the environment of S. Typhi, while unusually low rainfall may reduce exposure from sewage overflow. These results add to evidence that rainfall anomalies may play a role in the transmission of enteric pathogens, and can help direct future water and sanitation intervention strategies for the control of typhoid fever.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: WB Practice of Medicine > Medical Climatology > WB 700 Medical climatology. Geography of disease
WC Communicable Diseases > Infection. Bacterial Infections > Enteric Infections > WC 270 Typhoid fever
WD Disorders of Systemic, Metabolic or Environmental Origin, etc > Disorders and Injuries of Environmental Origin > WD 600 General works
Faculty: Department: Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268822000759
SWORD Depositor: JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User: JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited: 30 Aug 2022 13:21
Last Modified: 13 Jun 2023 10:24
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/20461

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