ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: The global positioning system (GPS) technology along with Google Earth is used to measure (spatial map) the accurate distribution of morbidity, mortality and planning of interventions in the community. We used this technology to find out its role in the investigation of a cholera outbreak, and also to identify the cause of the outbreak. Methods: This study was conducted in a village near Bengaluru, Karnataka in June 2013 during a cholera outbreak. House-to-house survey was done to identify acute watery diarrhoea cases. A hand held GPS receiver was used to record north and east coordinates of the households of cases and these values were subsequently plotted on Google Earth map. Water samples were collected from suspected sources for microbiological analysis. Results: A total of 27 cases of acute watery diarrhoea were reported. Fifty per cent of cases were in the age group of 14-44 yr and one death was reported. GPS technology and Google Earth described the accurate location of household of cases and spot map generated showed clustering of cases around the suspected water sources. The attack rate was 6.92 per cent and case fatality rate was 3.7 per cent. Water samples collected from suspected sources showed the presence of Vibrio cholera O1 Ogawa. Interpretation & conclusions: GPS technology and Google Earth were easy to use, helpful to accurately pinpoint the location of household of cases, construction of spot map and follow up of cases. Outbreak was found to be due to contamination of drinking water sources.
ABSTRACT
Global positioning system (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system that is of late being used in health care. Objectives: The aims of the study were to describe the geographical distribution and assess the prevalence of anemia and malnutrition in children aged 5-10 years with GPS. Subjects and Methods: This exploratory study was conducted over a period of 2 months in the rural field practice area of a medical college situated in Bangalore during June-July 2012. Children aged 5-10 years were the study subjects. Results: GPS was used for describing the geographical distribution of anemia and nutrition status on the Google earth map. The prevalence of anemia in the study subjects was 8.7%. The prevalence of underweight, stunting, thinness, and severe thinness among the study subjects was 52.8%, 28.5%, 23.5%, and 29.1%, respectively; however, overweight and obesity were observed only in 0.9% and 1.2% of the study subjects, respectively. Conclusion: GPS was easy to use and was able to demonstrate the actual distribution of morbidity at the household level in the rural area.