RELATIONSHIP OF DENGUE LARVAL DNESITY AND DENGUE CASES CONSIDERING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS IN UTTARADIT, THAILAND

Environment plays a very important role in the outbreak of infectious diseases. These environmental factors aid in spreading diseases like malaria, dengue, pneumonia, diarrhea, cholera etc. Some of the most important factors include land-use, water bodies, irrigation, food, climate, sanitation facilities. Each year dengue is affecting millions of individuals in tropical and sub-tropical areas. It has been noticed that it is also affecting areas that were once considered disease free. That’s why it is under the spotlight for the researchers who are working on the environmental impact on human health. Recent advances in remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies have introduced a prospective tool for infectious disease investigation, which also helps in controlling many types of vector borne diseases. Along with the provision of some crucial information on dengue transmission by remote sensing, it also provides up-to-date information about the land-use type, soil moisture, forestry and water quality that affect the incidence of vector borne disease. The aim of the study was to find a relationship between the spread of dengue and the suitable environment that facilitates the outburst of this epidemic; by using the dengue indices i.e. house index (H.I.), container index (C.I.) and Breteau index (B.I.), and land-use of Uttaradit, Thailand. The listed attributes helped us find the suitable habitat that should be avoided in order to have a dengue-free environment. The strong relationship between the land-use type and larval density, which was expressed in the form of indices, indicates that dense deciduous forests provide a favorable habitat for dengue vector, however the number of dengue cases were not much significant in the region. The results concluded that the number of dengue cases and larval density may differ in a similar type of land-use.