Spatiotemporal overlapping of dengue, chikungunya, and malaria infections in children in Kenya

Abstract

Malaria, chikungunya virus (CHIKV), and dengue virus (DENV) are endemic causes of fever among children in Kenya. The risks of infection are multifactorial and may be influenced by built and social environments. The high resolution overlapping of these diseases and factors affecting their spatial heterogeneity has not been investigated in Kenya. From 2014-2018, we prospectively followed a cohort of children from four communities in both coastal and western Kenya. Overall, 9.8% were CHIKV seropositive, 5.5% were DENV seropositive, and 39.1% were malaria positive (3521 children tested). The spatial analysis identified hot-spots for all three diseases in each site and in multiple years. The results of the model showed that the risk of exposure was linked to demographics with common factors for the three diseases including the presence of litter, crowded households, and higher wealth in these communities. These insights are of high importance to improve surveillance and targeted control of mosquito-borne diseases in Kenya.

Development of a trash classification system to map potential Aedes aegypti breeding grounds using unmanned aerial vehicle imaging

“…This classification system codifies the expertise from our interdisciplinary team, including local expert entomologists, and the accumulated knowledge from numerous studies identifying trash and tires as common Ae. aegypti breeding sites (Hayes et al 2003 ; Sekhon and Minhas 2014 ; Getachew et al 2015 ; Ngugi et al 2017 ; Mukhtar et al 2018 ; Khan et al 2023 ; Peña-García et al 2023 ). We combined this knowledge of common breeding sites with a detailed review of over 3000 trash sites and nearly 1000 trash ground photos to create categories that could be used for aerial image classification of trash sites.…”

“…Ae. aegypti is a highly anthropophilic species that commonly breeds in small, man-made containers of water such as plastic containers, bottles, buckets, and other trash that can collect rainwater (Getachew et al 2015 ; Ngugi et al 2017 , 2020 ; Krystosik et al 2020 ; Forsyth et al 2020 , 2022 ; Nosrat et al 2021 ; Mwakutwaa et al 2023 ; Khan et al 2023 ). Discarded tires are uniquely suited to holding rainwater and serve as a particularly productive breeding ground (Hayes et al 2003 ; Sekhon and Minhas 2014 ).…”

“…aegypti mosquitoes, data is limited evaluating the relationship between living in close proximity to trash and the risk for Ae. aegypti -transmitted infectious diseases (Khan et al 2023 ; Peña-García et al 2023 ). This gap is largely due to a lack of precise tools to quantify and map trash distribution.…”

Identifying Knowledge Gaps through the Systematic Review of Temperature-Driven Variability in the Competence of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus for Chikungunya Virus

“…aegypti collected in Kenyan cities compared to DENV [82]. Further, serosurveys have demonstrated higher seroprevalence for CHIKV compared to DENV in the human population [83][84][85]. What is currently expected of arbovirus transmission will change as climate changes and temperatures vary from what has been the norm, and urbanization (which also drives temperature increases at multiple scales) will continue to play a role in transmission, as well as other social determinants of health that are likewise affected by climate change, including food security, housing security, etcetera [86][87][88].…”

Non-household environments make a major contribution to dengue transmission: Implications for vector control

“…Kisumu and Ukunda. Both cohorts are part of an ongoing longitudinal study 47 . We interviewed 201 individuals in Ukunda and 243 in Kisumu, carefully selected to represent the gender and age group distribution of their respective cohorts.…”