Analysis on spatial temporal epidemiological characteristics of hand, foot and mouth disease at township level in Jingzhou, Hubei, 2015-2017

Objective To study the spatial temporal clusters of hand foot and mouse disease (HFMD) at the township level in Jingzhou of Hubei province during 2015-2017,and provide evidence for the prevention and control of HFMD. Methods The muster distribution method was used to analyze the seasonal characteristics of HFMD. Software SaTScan 9.4.2 was used to detect the spatiotemporal clusters of HFMD at township level in Jingzhou during 2015-2017. The detection effects with different population size as biggest scan windows were compared to select the best scan window. The results were visualized with software SaTScan 7.0. Results HFMD had certain seasonality in Jingzhou during 2015-2016,but had no seasonality in 2017. Taking 20% of the population as the maximum spatial cluster size was the best mode. Five HFMD clusters were identified by the best model. The first level cluster was in Mengjiaxi town and its surrounding area,including 21 towns,from April 17,2016 to May 16,2016 (LLR=815.19, RR=7.24, P=0.000). The other clusters were distributed in Jingzhou,Shashi,Honghu and Jianli counties (district)from April to July 2016. Conclusion The incidence of HFMD had obvious a spatiotemporal distribution. It is necessary to conduct targeted HFMD prevention and control in key areas and allocate health resources reasonably.