摘要
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a severe health problem and a parasitic disease on human dermal and widely pervades tropical and subtropical developing counties. The study is mainly focused on Geographic Information System (GIS) based Situational Analysis (SA). The clinically recorded 394 CL patients’ information was obtained from the District General Hospital of Polonnaruwa (DGHP) for 2017 and 2018. The spatial distribution of these patients was collected using Global Positing System (GPS). Moran’s I Index spatial autocorrelation technique and Getis-Ord Gi were used to identify the study site’s hot spot and cold spot areas. More than 75% of the CL patients’ population were highly involved with agricultural activities, and they are the highly exposed group of the CL in the study area. Also, 75% of the CL population were men, and the highly vulnerable age group was 35 - 39 men and 40 - 44 women. The generated Moran’s I Index indicates 0.0321, representing a randomly distributed pattern of CL patients over the District, and the Getis-Ord Gi Z Score value was >1.96 (p < 0.05). It is revealed that, during and in the post-harvesting periods of paddy cultivation, farmers are highly exposed to sandflies becoming CL patients. Due to this situation, the researchers observed that the highest number of patients have reported in May of both years and the infection period is two to four weeks earlier than the reported month. Hence to prevent the disease spread, it is essential to implement an awareness program regarding sandflies’ behaviour and CLD.
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a severe health problem and a parasitic disease on human dermal and widely pervades tropical and subtropical developing counties. The study is mainly focused on Geographic Information System (GIS) based Situational Analysis (SA). The clinically recorded 394 CL patients’ information was obtained from the District General Hospital of Polonnaruwa (DGHP) for 2017 and 2018. The spatial distribution of these patients was collected using Global Positing System (GPS). Moran’s I Index spatial autocorrelation technique and Getis-Ord Gi were used to identify the study site’s hot spot and cold spot areas. More than 75% of the CL patients’ population were highly involved with agricultural activities, and they are the highly exposed group of the CL in the study area. Also, 75% of the CL population were men, and the highly vulnerable age group was 35 - 39 men and 40 - 44 women. The generated Moran’s I Index indicates 0.0321, representing a randomly distributed pattern of CL patients over the District, and the Getis-Ord Gi Z Score value was >1.96 (p < 0.05). It is revealed that, during and in the post-harvesting periods of paddy cultivation, farmers are highly exposed to sandflies becoming CL patients. Due to this situation, the researchers observed that the highest number of patients have reported in May of both years and the infection period is two to four weeks earlier than the reported month. Hence to prevent the disease spread, it is essential to implement an awareness program regarding sandflies’ behaviour and CLD.
