Dengue in Timor-Leste during the COVID-19 phenomenon

Zito Viegas da Cruz; Afonso Lima Araujo; Alexis Ribas; Choosak Nithikathkul

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1057951

Dengue in Timor-Leste during the COVID-19 phenomenon

Front Public Health. 2023 Aug 22:11:1057951. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1057951. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Zito Viegas da Cruz¹, Afonso Lima Araujo², Alexis Ribas³, Choosak Nithikathkul^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Master of Science Program in Tropical Health Innovation, Faculty of Medicine, Mahasarakham University, Muang, Mahasarakham, Thailand.
² Health Statistics Information Ministry of Health (MoH), Dili, Timor-Leste.
³ Parasitology Section, Department of Biology, Healthcare and Environment, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴ Tropical Health Innovation Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mahasarakham University, Muang, Mahasarakham, Thailand.

Abstract

Dengue is a significant public health problem in mostly tropical countries, including Timor-Leste. Dengue continues to draw attention from the health sector during the COVID-19 phenomenon. Therefore, the goal of this study is to evaluate the dengue incidence rate in comparison with the COVID-19 cumulative number and associated dengue risk factors, including the fatality rate of dengue infection in each municipality during the COVID-19 phenomenon in Timor-Leste, by applying the data processing program in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A descriptive study using GIS was performed to provide a spatial-temporal mapping of dengue cases. Secondary data, which were sourced from the Department of Health Statistics Information under the Ministry of Health Timor-Leste, were collected for the period during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020-2021. These data were grounded at the municipal (province) level. Quantum GIS and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze the data. During the COVID-19 outbreak (2020-2021), dengue spread nationwide. It was found that there was an increase in municipalities with high dengue cases and cumulative COVID-19 numbers. The high number of dengue cases associated with the COVID-19 cumulative number found in municipalities with an urban characteristic and in terms of severity, dengue fever (DF) is most commonly reported with a total of 1,556 cases and is followed by dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and dengue shock syndrome (DSS). Most cases were reported in the months of the monsoon season, such as December, January, and March. Dengue GIS mapping helps understand the disease's presence and dynamic nature over time.

Keywords: COVID-19; GIS; Timor-Leste; dengue; mapping.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Dengue* / epidemiology
Disease Outbreaks
Geographic Information Systems
Humans
Timor-Leste

Grants and funding

This study has been supported by the Thailand International Post-Graduate Program (TIPP/TICA), with partial support from the Division of Research and Innovation, Public Health Administration, Office of the General Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, Research Affairs Division, Mahasarakham University, and Faculty of Medicine, Mahasarakham University.