Dengue outbreaks pattern in southern Guatemala

Abstract

This study analyses time series of dengue occurrence in the southern region of Guatemala. Temporal patterns of epidemic outbreaks in the department of Escuintla were investigated using the official reports from 2001 to 2013. In order to identify underlying associations with climate behavior, the epidemiological data were compared with historical reports available for temperature, rainfall and humidity. Preliminary results reveal that waves of dengue outbreaks exhibit a periodic pattern modulated by climatic conditions. A hierarchical cluster analysis allowed to indirectly estimate the degree of association of each climatic variable with dengue occurrences, showing the dominance of rainfall in dengue outbreaks patterns in three different localities. A further prospective analysis was performed to check whether epidemic trends driven by rainfall are hold in the subsequent years. Results presented here give support to predictive models for dengue incidence driven by climate.