Patterns of Urban Housing Shape Dengue Distribution in Singapore at Neighborhood and Country Scales

Abstract

Dengue is the most important human arboviral disease in Singapore. We classified residential areas into low‐rise and high‐rise housing and investigated the influence of urban drainage on the distribution of dengue incidence and outdoor breeding at neighborhood and country scales. In Geylang area (August 2014 to August 2015), dengue incidence was higher in a subarea of low‐rise housing compared to high‐rise one, averaging 26.7 (standard error, SE = 4.83) versus 2.43 (SE = 0.67) per 1,000 people. Outdoor breeding drains of Aedes aegypti have clustered in the low‐rise housing subarea. The pupal density per population was higher in the low‐rise blocks versus high‐rise ones, 246 (SE = 69.08) and 35.4 (SE = 25.49) per 1,000 people, respectively. The density of urban drainage network in the low‐rise blocks is double that in the high‐rise ones, averaging 0.05 (SE = 0.0032) versus 0.025 (SE = 0.00245) per meter. Further, a holistic analysis at a country‐scale has confirmed the role of urban hydrology in shaping dengue distribution in Singapore. Dengue incidence (2013–2015) is proportional to the fractions of the area (or population) of low‐rise housing. The drainage density in low‐rise housing is 4 times that corresponding estimate in high‐rise areas, 2.59 and 0.68 per meter, respectively. Public housing in agglomerations of high‐rise buildings could have a positive impact on dengue if this urban planning comes at the expense of low‐rise housing. City planners in endemic regions should consider the density of drainage networks for both the prevention of flooding and the breeding of mosquitoes.

Impact of sars-cov-2 interventions on dengue transmission

“…Additionally, an increased frequency of movement within urban and predominantly residential neighbourhoods was found to increase the risk of dengue infection [ 66 ]. Patterns in urban area structure and population density could also influence the rate of dengue incidence, as agglomerations of high-rise buildings have a lower dengue incidence as compared to low-rise buildings [ 67 ]. Urban and rural areas with predominantly low-rise residential buildings with denser drainage networks could thus increase the breeding habitats of dengue vectors.…”

“…Urban and rural areas with predominantly low-rise residential buildings with denser drainage networks could thus increase the breeding habitats of dengue vectors. [ 67 ]. While large differences in urbanisation demographics may potentially affect dengue preventive practices especially in Malaysia and Thailand with significant rural populations [ 68 ], multiple studies have shown that there is no large difference in dengue incidences between urban and rural areas in either Malaysia [ 69 , 70 ] or Thailand [ 71 , 72 ].…”

Dengue Disease Dynamics are Modulated by the Combined Influence of Precipitation and Landscapes: A Machine Learning-based Approach

“…aegypti in Singapore (Seidahmed, et al 2018), Brazil (Souza, et al 2017)m and Australia (Montgomery, et al 2004).…”

“…Most previous studies investigated the effects of either dynamic climate factors (Carvajal, Viacrusis, et al 2018, Zheng, et al 2019, Arcari, Tapper and Pfueller 2007, Tovar-Zamora, et al 2019, Bavia, et al 2020 or static spatial distributions of landscape attributes (Seidahmed, et al 2018, Vanwambeke, Lambin, et al 2007, Vanwambeke, N.Bennett and Kapan 2011, Sarfraz, et al 2012) on the temporal variations or spatial distributions of mosquito occurrence and dengue incidence. However, landscape and climate conditions can change concurrently in time and space, and their spatiotemporal interrelation may play a decisive role in determining the positive or negative effects on mosquitoes and dengue, such as interference during flood events.…”

Contribuições da análise espacial para a compreensão da dinâmica de transmissão da dengue: revisão integrativa

“…Pessoas que vivem em casas térreas também foram consideradas sob risco, quando comparadas àquelas que moram em apartamentos 34,41 . Estudos prévios mostraram que a oviposição do mosquito é menor em construções mais altas, o que torna a participação dos prédios pequena nos índices de infestação 44,50 .…”