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Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea

Background: Scrub typhus is an important public health issue in Korea. Risk factors for scrub typhus include both individual-level factors and environmental drivers, and some are related to the increased density of vector mites and rodents, the natural hosts of the mites. In this regard, deforestati...

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Autores principales: Min, Kyung-Duk, Lee, Ju-Yeun, So, Yeonghwa, Cho, Sung-il
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6539434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31035715
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091518
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author Min, Kyung-Duk
Lee, Ju-Yeun
So, Yeonghwa
Cho, Sung-il
author_facet Min, Kyung-Duk
Lee, Ju-Yeun
So, Yeonghwa
Cho, Sung-il
author_sort Min, Kyung-Duk
collection PubMed
description Background: Scrub typhus is an important public health issue in Korea. Risk factors for scrub typhus include both individual-level factors and environmental drivers, and some are related to the increased density of vector mites and rodents, the natural hosts of the mites. In this regard, deforestation is a potential risk factor, because the deforestation-induced secondary growth of scrub vegetation may increase the densities of mites and rodents. To examine this hypothesis, this study investigated the association between scrub typhus and deforestation. Methods: We acquired district-level data for 2006–2017, including the number of cases of scrub typhus reported annually, deforestation level, and other covariates. Deforestation was assessed using preprocessed remote-sensing satellite data. Bayesian regression models, including Poisson, negative binomial, zero-inflated Poisson, and zero-inflated negative binomial models, were examined, and spatial autocorrelation was considered in hierarchical models. A sensitivity analysis was conducted using different accumulation periods for the deforestation level to examine the robustness of the association. Results: The final models showed a significant association between deforestation and the incidence of scrub typhus (relative risk = 1.20, 95% credible interval = 1.15–1.24). The sensitivity analysis gave consistent results, and a potential long-term effect of deforestation for up to 5 years was shown. Conclusion: The results support the potential public health benefits of forest conservation by suppressing the risk of scrub typhus, implying the need for strong engagement of public health sectors in conservation issues from a One Health perspective.
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spelling pubmed-65394342019-06-05 Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea Min, Kyung-Duk Lee, Ju-Yeun So, Yeonghwa Cho, Sung-il Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Scrub typhus is an important public health issue in Korea. Risk factors for scrub typhus include both individual-level factors and environmental drivers, and some are related to the increased density of vector mites and rodents, the natural hosts of the mites. In this regard, deforestation is a potential risk factor, because the deforestation-induced secondary growth of scrub vegetation may increase the densities of mites and rodents. To examine this hypothesis, this study investigated the association between scrub typhus and deforestation. Methods: We acquired district-level data for 2006–2017, including the number of cases of scrub typhus reported annually, deforestation level, and other covariates. Deforestation was assessed using preprocessed remote-sensing satellite data. Bayesian regression models, including Poisson, negative binomial, zero-inflated Poisson, and zero-inflated negative binomial models, were examined, and spatial autocorrelation was considered in hierarchical models. A sensitivity analysis was conducted using different accumulation periods for the deforestation level to examine the robustness of the association. Results: The final models showed a significant association between deforestation and the incidence of scrub typhus (relative risk = 1.20, 95% credible interval = 1.15–1.24). The sensitivity analysis gave consistent results, and a potential long-term effect of deforestation for up to 5 years was shown. Conclusion: The results support the potential public health benefits of forest conservation by suppressing the risk of scrub typhus, implying the need for strong engagement of public health sectors in conservation issues from a One Health perspective. MDPI 2019-04-29 2019-05 /pmc/articles/PMC6539434/ /pubmed/31035715 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091518 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Min, Kyung-Duk
Lee, Ju-Yeun
So, Yeonghwa
Cho, Sung-il
Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title_full Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title_fullStr Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title_full_unstemmed Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title_short Deforestation Increases the Risk of Scrub Typhus in Korea
title_sort deforestation increases the risk of scrub typhus in korea
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6539434/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31035715
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091518
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