A Mapping Review on Urban Landscape Factors of Dengue Retrieved from Earth Observation Data, GIS Techniques, and Survey Questionnaires

Abstract

To date, there is no effective treatment to cure dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease which has a major impact on human populations in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Although the characteristics of dengue infection are well known, factors associated with landscape are highly scale dependent in time and space, and therefore difficult to monitor. We propose here a mapping review based on 78 articles that study the relationships between landscape factors and urban dengue cases considering household, neighborhood and administrative levels. Landscape factors were retrieved from survey questionnaires, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and remote sensing (RS) techniques. We structured these into groups composed of land cover, land use, and housing type and characteristics, as well as subgroups referring to construction material, urban typology, and infrastructure level. We mapped the co-occurrence networks associated with these factors, and analyzed their relevance according to a three-valued interpretation (positive, negative, non significant). From a methodological perspective, coupling RS and GIS techniques with field surveys including entomological observations should be systematically considered, as none digital land use or land cover variables appears to be an univocal determinant of dengue occurrences. Remote sensing urban mapping is however of interest to provide a geographical frame to distribute human population and movement in relation to their activities in the city, and as spatialized input variables for epidemiological and entomological models.

Evaluation of Neighborhood Socio-Economic Status, as Measured by the Delphi Method, on Dengue Fever Distribution in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

“…Despite this interest, Guo et al (2017) identified only around 20 articles between 1990 and 2015 that addressed the spatial components of dengue fever outbreaks [ 34 ]. Marti et al (2020) reviewed the literature and created an inventory of the most relevant landscape factors for dengue transfer in urban areas [ 35 ]. They identified 78 articles that met quality and content criteria and then structured their review according to geographic context, epidemiological descriptors, landscape factors, and evidence of a relationship between urban determinants and dengue cases [ 35 ].…”

“…Marti et al (2020) reviewed the literature and created an inventory of the most relevant landscape factors for dengue transfer in urban areas [ 35 ]. They identified 78 articles that met quality and content criteria and then structured their review according to geographic context, epidemiological descriptors, landscape factors, and evidence of a relationship between urban determinants and dengue cases [ 35 ]. This study emphasized the need to consider multiple variables, given the complexity of the ‘pathogenic landscape’ and to find ways of using remote sensing to describe intricate urban environments, minimizing the need for costly and time-consuming surveys [ 35 ].…”

“…They identified 78 articles that met quality and content criteria and then structured their review according to geographic context, epidemiological descriptors, landscape factors, and evidence of a relationship between urban determinants and dengue cases [ 35 ]. This study emphasized the need to consider multiple variables, given the complexity of the ‘pathogenic landscape’ and to find ways of using remote sensing to describe intricate urban environments, minimizing the need for costly and time-consuming surveys [ 35 ]. They concluded that an integrated approach, combining remote sensing, GIS and field surveys is desirable, with health data and entomological observation likely to remain limiting factors [ 35 ].…”

Semi-Supervised Text Classification Framework: An Overview of Dengue Landscape Factors and Satellite Earth Observation

“…Sallam et al [8] proposed a systematic review that summarized land cover, meteorological and socioeconomic factors of Aedes habitats, referring to dengue vectors. Moreover, our previous mapping review [9] focused on the dengue transmission in urban landscapes, and urban landscape factors derived from satellite EO data, Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques and survey questionnaires; spatial scales and dengue-landscape relationships were identified from 78 relevant studies published from inception to 31 December 2019. Despite all this, there is still a lack of overview on satellite EO data and landscape factors that could be of benefit to science and society by guiding future studies of disease risk prediction and improving health decision-making at different spatial scales (e.g., from global to local).…”

“…Satellite Earth observation sensors and derived products used for identifying dengue landscape factors. Information on spatial and temporal resolution was taken from Huete et al[27], Hamm et al[26] and Marti et al[9].…”