%0 Journal Article
%T Risk factor analysis and spatiotemporal CART model of cryptosporidiosis in Queensland, Australia
%A Wenbiao Hu
%A Kerrie Mengersen
%A Shilu Tong
%J BMC Infectious Diseases
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2334-10-311
%X Data on weather variables, notified cryptosporidiosis cases and social economic factors in Queensland were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Department of Health, and Australian Bureau of Statistics, respectively. Three-stage spatiotemporal classification and regression tree (CART) models were developed to examine the association between social economic and weather factors and monthly incidence of cryptosporidiosis in Queensland, Australia. The spatiotemporal CART model was used for predicting the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Queensland, Australia.The results of the classification tree model (with incidence rates defined as binary presence/absence) showed that there was an 87% chance of an occurrence of cryptosporidiosis in a local government area (LGA) if the socio-economic index for the area (SEIFA) exceeded 1021, while the results of regression tree model (based on non-zero incidence rates) show when SEIFA was between 892 and 945, and temperature exceeded 32ˇăC, the relative risk (RR) of cryptosporidiosis was 3.9 (mean morbidity: 390.6/100,000, standard deviation (SD): 310.5), compared to monthly average incidence of cryptosporidiosis. When SEIFA was less than 892 the RR of cryptosporidiosis was 4.3 (mean morbidity: 426.8/100,000, SD: 319.2). A prediction map for the cryptosporidiosis outbreak was made according to the outputs of spatiotemporal CART models.The results of this study suggest that spatiotemporal CART models based on social economic and weather variables can be used for predicting the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Queensland, Australia.Cryptosporidiosis is a diarrhoeal disease caused by microscopic parasites of the Cryptosporidium parvum [1]. The parasite is one of the most common causes of waterborne disease in Australia and globally and is found in drinking water and recreational water [2]. Cryptosporidiosis can also be transmitted via contaminated food, contact between people, or contact between people and animals.
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/10/311