Risk mapping of malaria in Iran from 2009 to 2018: A GIS-Based survey

Abstract

Background: Since the issues of public health and the spread of diseases are directly related to the region's geography. We aim to determine malaria incidence, spatial distribution, and hot spots in Iran using the GIS for a decade from 2009 to 2018. Methods: GIS was used to analyze the information acquired from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Tehran, Iran, and other associated centers between 2009 and 2018. Subsequently, maps of the disease's spatial distribution were constructed and using ArcGIS 10.5 software, the disease's hotspots in Iran were determined. The disease's variables, such as temperature, relative humidity, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and malaria incidence, were correlated using geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis in ArcGIS 10.5. Using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test, data were analyzed using Linear Regression Analysis and SPSS 21 software using descriptive statistics. Sistan and Baluchistan, and the Bushehr provinces were hot spots for Malaria. The geographically weighted regression analysis results showed that in Sistan and Baluchistan and Bushehr, Hormozgan, Fars, Qom, Yazd, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, the highest correlation between temperature, humidity, vegetation density, and the incidence of Malaria was observed (p-value = 0.019).