Developing Malaria Susceptibility Area in Sabah, Malaysia using Spatial Analysis

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Malaysia has battled malaria endemic for many years and has made remarkable progress in decreasing malaria cases. However, Sabah State is still contributes to the largest burden of malaria cases for Malaysia. Sabah is has known to have a combination of topographical and geographical areas, and this might contribute to different susceptibility areas for malaria in the state. The aim of this study is to develop and mapped out malaria susceptibility area for Sabah, Malaysia based on the environmental factors using spatial analysis. METHODS This is a retrospective ecological study, conducted from 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2014, using malaria cases, satellite and topographical data for Sabah. Multiple linear regression models were built, with reported malaria cases as the dependent variable, and environmental factors such as climate, and topographical factors as the independent variables. The data were analyzed using GIS software for multiple linear regressions and, malaria susceptibility map was derived from the model. RESULTS Sabah is located in the northern part of Borneo Island in South East Asia between the latitudes of 4º to 7º north of the equator and longitudes of 115º to 119º east. Sabah covers a land area of 73,600 km² with 24 districts. A total of 2300 malaria cases were notified in Sabah within the period, mainly around the inferior division of Sabah. Climatic factors such as land surface temperature, rainfall, normalized difference vegetation index contribute to the malaria susceptibility area in Sabah. Topographical factors such as elevation, distance to water body, road and health care facility also were also expected to contribute to the malaria susceptibility area in Sabah. CONCLUSION Malaria susceptibility area derived from this study will assist further on detailed entomological survey in Sabah in order for Malaysia to achieve malaria elimination by year the 2020.