J Med Assoc Thai 2015; 98 (5):17

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Malaria Risk Areas in Thailand Border
Kaewpitoon N Mail, A Loyd R , J Kaewpitoon S , Rujirakul R

Background: Malaria is a serious public health problem of the world especially in Africa and Asia where the areas are located in the tropical and subtropical regions. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans caused by parasitic protozoans of the genus Plasmodium.
Objective: The present study aims to analyze the risk areas by using Potential Surface Analysis (PSA) with Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) in Thai-Cambodia border including Buriram and Surin provinces.
Material and Method: The study divided the factors into six factors including population density, land used (agriculture,
houses, water reservoirs, forest), anopheles adult density in villages with reported cases, average annual rainfall, average
annual temperature, average annual relative humidity and analyzing risk areas by analysis of PSA.
Results: 846 malaria cases were reported between 2008 and 2012, 80.50% and 19.50% from to the Surin and Buriram
provinces, respectively. The most cases were found in females, in the 31-40-year age group and agricultural people. The
predominant cases were Plasmodium vivax with 45.36%. The high-risk areas of malaria cases was on the 3,014.79 kilometer Thai-Cambodian border consisting of four districts: Nangrong and Nondaeng districts of Buriram province and Sangka and Buached districts of Surin province. The relationship between malaria morbidity with environmental factors found that malaria morbidity rates were associated with land use (forest areas), population density, anopheles adult density of statistical significance and influenced morbidity rates by 12.3% (Adjusted R2 = 0.261), 17.0 (Adjusted R2 = 0.170), and 11.1 (Adjusted R2 = 0.111). The climate factor associated to malaria morbidity with average annual relative humidity by percentage of 5.7 (Adjusted R2 = 0.057).
Conclusion: This study showed that malaria is still a problem in Thailand-Cambodia border and the analysis of PSA with
GIS can be used to assess the risk of malarial morbidity, and lead to planning, control, and prevention of the morbidity.

Keywords: Malaria, Risk area, Thailand, Border


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