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Spatiotemporal Analysis of Nodding Syndrome in Northern Uganda 1990-2014

Ongaya, Kizito ; Aturinde, Augustus LU ; Farnaghi, Mahdi LU ; Mansourian, A LU ; Maiga, Gilbert ; Oyo, Benedict and Bagarukayo, Emily (2020) In Health (Irvine) 12(2).
Abstract
The emergence of nodding syndrome (NS) in Northern Uganda has generated controversial views with respect to patterns, natural history, and aetiology of the disease which is yet unknown. This study explored spatial patterns of NS using spatial-temporal methods to establish its clustering patterns across both space and time. Village and year of NS onset for individual patients between the years 1990 and 2014 were entered as input for spatial and temporal analysis in the 6 districts in northern Uganda where it is prevalent. Our temporal results showed that NS onset started before the population was moved in Internally Displaced People’s (IDPs) camps. It also shows that NS continued to be reported during the IDPs and after people had left the... (More)
The emergence of nodding syndrome (NS) in Northern Uganda has generated controversial views with respect to patterns, natural history, and aetiology of the disease which is yet unknown. This study explored spatial patterns of NS using spatial-temporal methods to establish its clustering patterns across both space and time. Village and year of NS onset for individual patients between the years 1990 and 2014 were entered as input for spatial and temporal analysis in the 6 districts in northern Uganda where it is prevalent. Our temporal results showed that NS onset started before the population was moved in Internally Displaced People’s (IDPs) camps. It also shows that NS continued to be reported during the IDPs and after people had left the IDPs. Our spatial and spatiotemporal analysis showed that two periods had persistent NS clusters. These were 2000-2004 and 2010-2014, coinciding with the period when the population was in the IDP camps and when the population was already out of the camps, respectively. Our conclusion is that the view of associating NS outbreak with living conditions in IDP camps is thus coincidental. We, therefore, contend that the actual aetiological factor of NS is still at large. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Health (Irvine)
volume
12
issue
2
pages
14 pages
publisher
Scientific Research Publishing (SCIRP)
ISSN
1949-4998
DOI
10.4236/health.2020.122015
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d105e12f-66bd-4ba9-9f66-5e96e0f2e508
date added to LUP
2020-03-14 18:56:48
date last changed
2021-04-15 14:19:55
@article{d105e12f-66bd-4ba9-9f66-5e96e0f2e508,
  abstract     = {{The emergence of nodding syndrome (NS) in Northern Uganda has generated controversial views with respect to patterns, natural history, and aetiology of the disease which is yet unknown. This study explored spatial patterns of NS using spatial-temporal methods to establish its clustering patterns across both space and time. Village and year of NS onset for individual patients between the years 1990 and 2014 were entered as input for spatial and temporal analysis in the 6 districts in northern Uganda where it is prevalent. Our temporal results showed that NS onset started before the population was moved in Internally Displaced People’s (IDPs) camps. It also shows that NS continued to be reported during the IDPs and after people had left the IDPs. Our spatial and spatiotemporal analysis showed that two periods had persistent NS clusters. These were 2000-2004 and 2010-2014, coinciding with the period when the population was in the IDP camps and when the population was already out of the camps, respectively. Our conclusion is that the view of associating NS outbreak with living conditions in IDP camps is thus coincidental. We, therefore, contend that the actual aetiological factor of NS is still at large.}},
  author       = {{Ongaya, Kizito and Aturinde, Augustus and Farnaghi, Mahdi and Mansourian, A and Maiga, Gilbert and Oyo, Benedict and Bagarukayo, Emily}},
  issn         = {{1949-4998}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Scientific Research Publishing (SCIRP)}},
  series       = {{Health (Irvine)}},
  title        = {{Spatiotemporal Analysis of Nodding Syndrome in Northern Uganda 1990-2014}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/health.2020.122015}},
  doi          = {{10.4236/health.2020.122015}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}