Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cholera Hospitalization in Vellore, India

Aishwarya Venkat, Tania M. Alarcon Falconi, Melissa Cruz, Meghan A. Hartwick, Shalini Anandan, Naveen Kumar, Honorine Ward, Balaji Veeraraghavan and Elena N. Naumova
Additional contact information
Aishwarya Venkat: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Tania M. Alarcon Falconi: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Melissa Cruz: Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Meghan A. Hartwick: School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
Shalini Anandan: Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632004, India
Naveen Kumar: Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632004, India
Honorine Ward: Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA
Balaji Veeraraghavan: Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632004, India
Elena N. Naumova: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-14

Abstract: Systematically collected hospitalization records provide valuable insight into disease patterns and support comprehensive national infectious disease surveillance networks. Hospitalization records detailing patient’s place of residence (PoR) can be utilized to better understand a hospital’s case load and strengthen surveillance among mobile populations. This study examined geographic patterns of patients treated for cholera at a major hospital in south India. We abstracted 1401 laboratory-confirmed cases of cholera between 2000–2014 from logbooks and electronic health records (EHRs) maintained by the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. We constructed spatial trend models and identified two distinct clusters of patient residence—one around Vellore (836 records (61.2%)) and one in Bengal (294 records (21.5%)). We further characterized differences in peak timing and disease trend among these clusters to identify differences in cholera exposure among local and visiting populations. We found that the two clusters differ by their patient profiles, with patients in the Bengal cluster being most likely older males traveling to Vellore. Both clusters show well-aligned seasonal peaks in mid-July, only one week apart, with similar downward trend and proportion of predominant O1 serotype. Large hospitals can thus harness EHRs for surveillance by utilizing patients’ PoRs to study disease patterns among resident and visitor populations.

Keywords: spatial statistics; disease clusters; cholera; hospitalization; India; electronic health records (EHR); mobile population (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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