Spatiotemporal distribution pattern of viral hepatitis A in Guizhou based on spatial statistics

  Objective   To analyze the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of viral hepatitis A in Guizhou province, and provide reference for the development of specific prevention and control strategies of hepatitis A in Guizhou.

  Methods  The report data of hepatitis A cases in each county of Guizhou from 2009 to 2018 were collected from the infectious disease report information management system, and the spatiotemporal distribution pattern of hepatitis A was analyzed by spatial autocorrelation and spatiotemporal scanning statistics.

  Results   From 2009 to 2018, a total of 10 471 cases of hepatitis A were reported in Guizhou, with an average annual incidence of 2.84/100 000, showing a downward trend (trend χ² =8 280.97, P<0.001). From 2009 to 2018, the overall incidence of hepatitis A in Guizhou showed spatial clustering, Global Moran's I values ranged from 0.055 to 0.310, There was a spatial autocorrelation in the incidence of hepatitis A in all years except 2011 (P<0.05), A total of 44 high-high clustering areas of hepatitis A were detected, mainly in central Guizhou, and 54 low-low clustering areas, mainly in southeast Guizhou, the spatiotemporal scanning results showed that there were 6 spatiotemporal clustering areas of hepatitis A in Guizhou from 2009 to 2018, and the differences of each clustering were significant (P<0.05). Most of these clustering areas were in Guiyang, Qiannan, Qiandongnan, Zunyi, Tongren and some counties of Bijie.

  Conclusion   The incidence of hepatitis A in Guizhou showed a significant downward trend from 2009 to 2018, and there was a spatiotemporal clustering in the whole province, and the clustering areas were mainly in Qiannan prefecture and most districts and counties in Qiandongnan prefecture, suggesting that the research should be focused on strengthening the hepatitis A prevention and control in the clustering areas.