Skip Navigation

Publication Detail

Title: Meteorological variability and infectious disease in Central Africa: a review of meteorological data quality.

Authors: Heaney, Alexandra; Little, Eliza; Ng, Sophia; Shaman, Jeffrey

Published In Ann N Y Acad Sci, (2016 Oct)

Abstract: Central African countries may bear high climate change-related infectious disease burdens because of preexisting high rates of disease, poor healthcare infrastructure, land use changes, and high environmental change vulnerabilities. However, making connections between climate and infectious diseases in this region is hampered by the paucity of high-quality meteorological data. This review analyzes the sources and quality of meteorological data used to study the interactions between weather and infectious diseases in Central African countries. Results show that 23% of studies used meteorological data that mismatched with the disease spatial scale of interest. Use of inappropriate weather data was most frequently identified in analyses using meteorological station data or gridded data products. These findings have implications for the interpretation of existing analyses and provide guidance for the use of climate data in future analyses of the connections between meteorology and infectious diseases in Central Africa.

PubMed ID: 27244461 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Africa, Central/epidemiology; Climate Change/statistics & numerical data*; Communicable Diseases/diagnosis; Communicable Diseases/epidemiology*; Data Accuracy*; Humans; Meteorological Concepts*; Satellite Communications/standards; Weather

Back
to Top