Impact of Climate Factors on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Malaysia: A Generalised Linear Models Approach

Authors

  • Lau Yan Mun Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics, School of Mathematical Sciences, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, MALAYSIA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0419-8734
  • Khoo Wooi Chen Institute Actuarial Science and Data Analytics, UCSI University, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
  • Yeh-Ching Low School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University, 47500 Selangor, MALAYSIA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3450-2538

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22452/

Keywords:

Hand Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD), Zero-inflated Models, Generalised Linear Models, Climate Factors Analysis, Model Fitting and Prediction

Abstract

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) is a re-emerging infectious disease in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Malaysia. To the best of our knowledge, studies focusing on analyzing the relationship between climate factors and HFMD in Malaysia have not used 10 years of climate data or conducted research covering all states in the country. These existing studies have suggested that examining more data would produce more precise results. Therefore, this study employs generalized linear models (GLMs) to examine the relationship between climate factors and HFMD incidences and to forecast the HFMD cases. Data from 2009 to 2019 were analyzed using five different distributions across fourteen Malaysian states, considering daily HFMD cases, temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall. The Zero-inflated Negative Binomial model was identified as the most appropriate for analyzing and predicting HFMD cases in multiple states, providing valuable insights for policymakers and health authorities.

References

Abdul Wahid, N. A., Suhaila, J., & Rahman, H. Abd. (2021). Effect of climate factors on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Malaysia: A generalized additive mixed model. Infectious Disease Modelling, 6, 997–1008. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idm.2021.08.003

Abdul Wahid, N. A., Suhaila, J., & Sulekan, A. (2020). Temperature effect on HFMD transmission in Selangor, Malaysia. Sains Malaysiana, 49(10), 2587–2597. https://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2020-4910-24

Ang, L. W., Koh, B. K., Chan, K. P., Chua, L. T., James, L., & Goh, K. T. (2009). Epidemiology and control of hand, foot and mouth disease in Singapore, 2001-2007. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 38(2), 106–112. https://doi.org/10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.v38n2p106

Chang, L.-Y., King, C.-C., Hsu, K.-H., Ning, H.-C., Tsao, K.-C., Li, C.-C., Huang, Y.-C., Shih, S.-R., Chiou, S.-T., Chen, P.-Y., Chang, H.-J., & Lin, T.-Y. (2002). Risk factors of enterovirus 71 infection and associated hand, foot, and mouth disease/herpangina in children during an epidemic in Taiwan. Pediatrics, 109(6). https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.109.6.e88

Chavan, N. A., Lavania, M., Shinde, P., Sahay, R., Joshi, M., Yadav, P. D., Tikute, S., Waghchaure, R., Ashok, M., Gupta, A., Mittal, M., Khan, V., Fomda, B. A., Ahmad, M., Tiwari, V. P., Pote, P., Dhongade, A. R., Mohanty, A., Mohan, K., … Bhardwaj, A. (2023). The 2022 outbreak and the pathobiology of the Coxsackie virus [hand foot and mouth disease] in India. Infection, Genetics and Evolution, 111, 105432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2023.105432

Chen, S., Liu, X., Wu, Y., Xu, G., Zhang, X., Mei, S., Zhang, Z., O’Meara, M., O’Gara, M. C., Tan, X., & Li, L. (2019). The application of meteorological data and search index data in improving the prediction of HFMD: A study of two cities in Guangdong Province, China. Science of The Total Environment, 652, 1013–1021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.304

Chin, S. N., Lem, F. F., Toh, J. Y., Chee, F. T., Yew, C. W., Saptu, A. R., Sampil, N. S., Mathew, M. G., & Sharip, J. (2022). A retrospective analysis on incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Kota Kinabalu, district of Sabah Malaysia. International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS), 11(2), 369. https://doi.org/10.11591/ijphs.v11i2.21294

Conway, R.W. & Maxwell, W.L. (1962) A queuing model with state dependent service rates. Journal of Industrial Engineering, 12, 132-136.

Greene, William H., Accounting for Excess Zeros and Sample Selection in Poisson and Negative Binomial Regression Models (March 1994). NYU Working Paper No. EC-94-10, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1293115

Kim, B. I., Ki, H., Park, S., Cho, E., & Chun, B. C. (2016). Effect of climatic factors on hand, foot, and mouth disease in South Korea, 2010-2013. PLOS ONE, 11(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157500

Khoo, W. C., Yeah, K. L., Hong, S. Y. (2022). Modeling unemployment duration, determinants and insurance premium pricing of Malaysia: insights from an upper middle-income developing country. SN Business & Economics 2(8), 116.

Luo, C., Qian, J., Liu, Y., Lv, Q., Ma, Y., & Yin, F. (2022). Long-term air pollution levels modify the relationships between short-term exposure to meteorological factors, air pollution and the incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease in children: A DLNM-based multicity time series study in Sichuan Province, China. BMC Public Health, 22(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13890-7

Nanjundan, N.G., & Pasha, S.S. (2015). A characterization of zero-inflated geometric model. International Journal of Mathematics Trends and Technology, 23(1), 71–73. https://doi.org/10.14445/22315373/ijmtt-v23p510

Onozuka, D., & Hashizume, M. (2011). The influence of temperature and humidity on the incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Japan. Science of The Total Environment, 410–411, 119–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2011.09.055

Puenpa, J., Wanlapakorn, N., Vongpunsawad, S., & Poovorawan, Y. (2019). The history of enterovirus A71 outbreaks and molecular epidemiology in the Asia-Pacific region. Journal of Biomedical Science, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-019-0573-2

Sham, N. M., Krishnarajah, I., Shitan, M., & Lye, M.-S. (2014). Time series model on hand, foot and mouth disease in Sarawak, Malaysia. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Disease, 4(6), 469–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2222-1808(14)60608-3

Sun, L., Lin, H., Lin, J., He, J., Deng, A., Kang, M., Zeng, H., Ma, W., & Zhang, Y. (2016). Evaluating the transmission routes of hand, foot, and mouth disease in Guangdong, China. American Journal of Infection Control, 44(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2015.04.202

Verma, S., Razzaque, M. A., Sangtongdee, U., Arpnikanondt, C., Tassaneetrithep, B., Arthan, D., Paratthakonkun, C., & Soonthornworasiri, N. (2021). Hand, foot, and mouth disease in Thailand: A comprehensive modelling of epidemic dynamics. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, 2021, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6697522

Wahid, N. A., Suhaila, J., & Rahman, H. Abd. (2021). The influence of climate factors on hand-foot-mouth disease: A five-state study in Malaysia. Universal Journal of Public Health, 9(5), 324–331. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujph.2021.090515

Wan Mohamad, W. M., Ismail, N. A., & Mohd Fuzi, N. M. (2021). Risk factors of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) outbreak cases among children under five years old in North Eastern State of Malaysia. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, 21(2), 315–320. https://doi.org/10.37268/mjphm/vol.21/no.2/art.1028

Wu, Y., Wang, T., Zhao, M., Wang, S., & Shi, J. (2022). Spatiotemporal cluster patterns of hand, foot, and mouth disease at the province level in mainland China, 2011-2018. PLoS ONE, 17(8), e0270061. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1601423/v1

graphical abstract

Downloads

Published

30-06-2026