Meteorological factors and normalized difference vegetation index drivers of scrub typhus incidence in Shandong Province based on a 16-year time-frequency analysis

作者：Zemin Ni, Shufen Li, Rui Xi, Kemeng Liang, Sihao Song, Chuanlong Cheng, Hui Zuo, Lü Liang, Xiujun Li · 发表于：BMC Public Health · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12889-025-21987-y · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Vector-borne infectious diseases、Mosquito-borne diseases and control、Leptospirosis research and findings

OBJECTIVE: Scrub typhus, a natural epidemic disease that seriously impacts the health of the population, has imposed a substantial disease burden in Shandong Province. This study aimed to determine the periodicity of the scrub typhus incidence and identify the environmental risk factors affecting scrub typhus to help prevent and control its occurrence in Shandong Province. METHODS: Monthly cases of scrub typhus, mean air temperature, relative humidity, cumulative precipitation, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data in Shandong Province from 2006 to 2021 were collected. Wavelet analysis was used to determine the incidence period of scrub typhus and to explore the relationships between environmental factors and the incidence of scrub typhus. Additionally, partial wavelet coherence (PWC) was employed to identify whether meteorological factors affect the association between NDVI and scrub typhus incidence. RESULTS: Our results showed that scrub typhus incidence has a predominantly one-year period, followed by a less powerful six-month period. The wavelet coherence results revealed positive correlations between scrub typhus incidence and temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, and NDVI. Meteorological factors had a lagged effect of approximately 1-2 months (The phase angles of temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity were 59.15°, 56.57°, and 47.17° respectively) on scrub typhus incidence, whereas NDVI showed a lagged effect of approximately 1-2 wee...