Effects of Annual Rainfall on Dengue Incidence in the Indian State of Rajasthan

ABSTRACT

Dengue has become a major public health problem in the last few decades in India contributing significantly to the overall disease burden. Most of the cases of dengue from India are reported during the monsoon season. The vector population of dengue is affected by seasonal rainfall, temperature, and humidity fluctuations. Rajasthan is a northwestern state of India, which has shown several dengue outbreaks in the past. In this paper, we have tried to analyze the effects of annual cumulative rainfall on dengue incidence in one of the largest and severely affected states of India. Retrospective data for dengue incidence and rainfall for the state of Rajasthan was collected and Pearson’s coefficient correlation was calculated as a measure of association between the variables. Our results indicate that annual cumulative rainfall shows a strong positive correlation with dengue incidence in the state of Rajasthan. Such analyses have the potential to inform public health official about the control and preparedness for vector control during monsoon season. This is the first study from the Indian state of Rajasthan to assess the impact of annual rainfall on dengue incidence, which has seen several dengue outbreaks in the past.