Incidence of Infectious Diseases in Ganzhou District of Zhangye City and Their Relationship with Dry Weather

Objectives To understand the epidemic regularity of infectious diseases in Ganzhou district of Zhangye, analyze the relationship between the incidences of infectious diseases and drought factors, and provide scientific basis for the government and health departments to make decisions and take preventive measures.

Methods  The data on the incidences of common infectious diseases and drought factors from 2012 to 2016 in Ganzhou district of Zhangye were collected to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of infectious diseases, as well as the relationship between the incidences of tuberculosis and bacillary dysentery with drought factors.

Results During 2012-2016 in Ganzhou district, the incidence rates of tuberculosis were the highest in elder people above 65 years of age, and the incidence rates of bacillary dysentery were the highest among children aged (0~15) year-old, which appeared mainly in the spring and summer. Children aged (0~10) years accounted for the largest number of patients caused by other infectious diarrhea and other infectious diseases. The incidence of other infectious diseases in Ganzhou area in 2012-2016 were 579.36/10⁶ for tuberculosis, 29.09/10⁶ for bacillary dysentery, 7.61/10⁶ for hepatitis, 266.65/10⁶ for other infectious diarrhea and 212.38/10⁶ for other infectious diseases, respectively the rate of all of these diseases showed a downward trend in these years. The incidence of pulmonary tuberculosis was positively correlated with the number of consecutive days without rainfall in a season (r=0.543, P=0.013), while the incidence of bacillary dysentery was negatively correlated with the number of consecutive days without rainfall in a season (r=-0.517, P=0.020).

Conclusions The incidences of infectious diseases in residents of Ganzhou district showed a downward trend year by year in 2012-2016, and the incidences of tuberculosis and bacterial dysentery in this area were related to the continuous no rain days in a season. The result suggested that infants, children and the elderly were the key population for prevention and control of infectious diseases in residents of Ganzhou district.