Meteorological factors of hand, foot and mouth disease in the island area of Zhoushan

Abstract

Objective To analyze the meteorological factors of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Zhoushan. Methods Data on weekly incidence of HFMD and meteorological factors in Zhoushan from 2009 to 2013 were collected and analyzed by single factor correlation analysis with Spearman correlation assay. The ridge regression was used to identify the meteorological factors which affecting incidence of HFMD. Results There were positive correlations between weekly average temperature, relative humidity, vapor pressure, sunshine hours and HFMD incidence (r=0.467-0.827, P all 0.05) . It suggested that average relative humidity, vapor pressure, temperature and sunshine hours were the main meteorological factors by ridge regression. Their influence size in proper order degree by medicines were relative humidity (0.273) , vapor pressure (0.220) , temperature (0.156) and sunshine hours(0.141). Conclusions There are significant associations between meteorological factors and the incidence of HFMD in Zhoushan island. The relative humidity, vapor pressure, temperature and sunshine hours are the main meteorological factors of the incidence of HFMD. Key words: Hand, foot and mouth disease; Meteorology; Ridge regression; Island