TITLE:
Assessment of Patterns of Climate Variables and Malaria Cases in Two Ecological Zones of Ghana
AUTHORS:
Nana Ama Browne Klutse, Fred Aboagye-Antwi, Kwadwo Owusu, Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu
KEYWORDS:
Malaria, Rainfall, Temperature, Climate Change, Ecological Zone
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.4 No.12,
September
19,
2014
ABSTRACT: Climate change is projected to impact human health, particularly incidence of water related and vector borne diseases, such as malaria. A better understanding of the relationship between rainfall patterns and malaria cases is thus required for effective climate change adaptation strategies involving planning and implementation of appropriate disease control interventions. We analyzed climatic data and reported cases of malaria spanning a period of eight years (2001 to 2008) from two ecological zones in Ghana (Ejura and Winneba in the transition and coastal savannah zones respectively) to determine the association between malaria cases, and temperature and rainfall patterns and the potential effects of climate change on malaria epidemiological trends. Monthly peaks of malaria caseloads lagged behind monthly rainfall peaks. Correlation between malaria caseloads and rainfall intensity, and minimum temperature were generally weak at both sites. Lag correlations of up to four months yielded better agreement between the variables, especially at Ejura where a two-month lag between malaria caseloads and rainfall was significantly high but negatively correlated (r = -0.72; p value