Spatial big data analytics of influenza epidemic in Vellore, India

Abstract

The study objective is to develop a big spatial data model to predict the epidemiological impact of influenza in Vellore, India. Large repositories of geospatial and health data provide vital statistics on surveillance and epidemiological metrics, and valuable insight into the spatiotemporal determinants of disease and health. The integration of these big data sources and analytics to assess risk factors and geospatial vulnerability can assist to develop effective prevention and control strategies for influenza epidemics and optimize allocation of limited public health resources. We used the spatial epidemiology data of the HIN1 epidemic collected at the National Informatics Center during 2009-2010 in Vellore. We developed an ecological niche model based on geographically weighted regression for predicting influenza epidemics in Vellore, India during 2013-2014. Data on rainfall, temperature, wind speed, humidity and population are included in the geographically weighted regression analysis. We inferred positive correlations for H1N1 influenza prevalence with rainfall and wind speed, and negative correlations for H1N1 influenza prevalence with temperature and humidity. We evaluated the results of the geographically weighted regression model in predicting the spatial distribution of the influenza epidemic during 2013-2014.