Spatial Analysis of Dengue Seroprevalence and Modeling of Transmission Risk Factors in a Dengue Hyperendemic City of Venezuela
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005317
- PMID
- 28114342
- PMCID
- PMC5289626
- OpenAlex
- W2580689161
- Study type
- Cross-sectional study
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The authors suggest that spatially targeted surveillance and control measures, focused on household- and neighborhood-level high-risk zones during both epidemic and inter-epidemic periods, could be more efficient than random interventions in resource-limited hyperendemic settings.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study examined whether dengue seroprevalence clusters spatially at the household and block level in a Venezuelan hyperendemic city and which risk factors are associated with residing in identified hot spots.
Study design
A community-based cross-sectional serosurvey (August 2010–January 2011) of 2,012 individuals in 840 households, analyzed with local spatial statistics and regression modeling to identify hot spots and associated risk factors.
Population and setting
Residents of high-incidence neighborhoods in a dengue hyperendemic city in Venezuela, sampled at the household level across the study period.
Main findings
Local spatial analysis identified 39 hot spot households and 9 hot spot blocks for recent dengue seroprevalence across neighborhoods, but no clusters for past seroprevalence, with clustering detected at a very fine scale (20–110 m). Reported associations with living in a hot spot household included being a domestic worker/housewife, lower socio-economic status indicated by living in a shack, and additional covariates listed in the abstract; remaining effect estimates were not reported in the supplied text.
Public-health relevance
The authors suggest that spatially targeted surveillance and control measures, focused on household- and neighborhood-level high-risk zones during both epidemic and inter-epidemic periods, could be more efficient than random interventions in resource-limited hyperendemic settings.
Important limitations
The abstract does not enumerate explicit study limitations; this summary is restricted to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata, and decision-grade interpretation would require review of the full paper, including its stated limitations.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable as a Venezuela-focused dengue study tagged with surveillance, transmission dynamics, climate/environment, and vaccination topics; this summary does not link the paper to any live surveillance signal and is intended only to characterize its evidentiary context.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 13 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.