Affiliations 

  • 1 Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
  • 4 Department of Social Preventive Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
J Trop Med, 2020;2020:1019238.
PMID: 32536945 DOI: 10.1155/2020/1019238

Abstract

Dengue is an endemic mosquito-borne viral disease prevalent in many urban areas of the tropic, especially the Southeast Asia. Its presence among the indigenous population of Peninsular Malaysia (Orang Asli), however, has not been well described. The present study was performed to investigate the seroprevalence of dengue among the Orang Asli (OA) residing at the forest fringe areas of Peninsular Malaysia and determine the factors that could affect the transmission of dengue among the OA. Eight OA communities consisting of 491 individuals were recruited. From the study, at least 17% of the recruited study participants were positive for dengue IgG, indicating past exposure to dengue. Analysis on the demographic and socioeconomic variables suggested that high seroprevalence of dengue was significantly associated with those above 13 years old and a low household income of less than MYR500 (USD150). It was also associated with the vast presence of residential areas and the presence of a lake. Remote sensing analysis showed that higher land surface temperatures and lower land elevations also contributed to higher dengue seroprevalence. The present study suggested that both demographic and geographical factors contributed to the increasing risk of contracting dengue among the OA living at the forest fringe areas of Peninsular Malaysia. The OA, hence, remained vulnerable to dengue.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.