Disparities in Risks of Malaria Associated with Climatic Variability among Women, Children and Elderly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh

Theophilus I. Emeto, Oyelola A. Adegboye, Reza A. Rumi, Mahboob-Ul I. Khan, Majeed Adegboye, Wasif A. Khan, Mahmudur Rahman, Peter K. Streatfield and Kazi M. Rahman
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Theophilus I. Emeto: Public Health & Tropical Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Oyelola A. Adegboye: Public Health & Tropical Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical & Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia
Reza A. Rumi: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Mahboob-Ul I. Khan: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Majeed Adegboye: American University of Nigeria, 640001 Yola, Nigeria
Wasif A. Khan: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Mahmudur Rahman: Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Peter K. Streatfield: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Kazi M. Rahman: North Coast Public Health Unit, New South Wales Health, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: Malaria occurrence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh varies by season and year, but this pattern is not well characterized. The role of environmental conditions on the occurrence of this vector-borne parasitic disease in the region is not fully understood. We extracted information on malaria patients recorded in the Upazila (sub-district) Health Complex patient registers of Rajasthali in Rangamati district of Bangladesh from February 2000 to November 2009. Weather data for the study area and period were obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Non-linear and delayed effects of meteorological drivers, including temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall on the incidence of malaria, were investigated. We observed significant positive association between temperature and rainfall and malaria occurrence, revealing two peaks at 19 °C (logarithms of relative risks (logRR) = 4.3, 95% CI: 1.1–7.5) and 24.5 °C (logRR = 4.7, 95% CI: 1.8–7.6) for temperature and at 86 mm (logRR = 19.5, 95% CI: 11.7–27.3) and 284 mm (logRR = 17.6, 95% CI: 9.9–25.2) for rainfall. In sub-group analysis, women were at a much higher risk of developing malaria at increased temperatures. People over 50 years and children under 15 years were more susceptible to malaria at increased rainfall. The observed associations have policy implications. Further research is needed to expand these findings and direct resources to the vulnerable populations for malaria prevention and control in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the region with similar settings.

Keywords: climatic variability; malaria; vulnerable groups; Chittagong Hill Tracts; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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