@article{fdi:010042740,
  title = {{R}elationships between climate and year-to-year variability in meningitis outbreaks : a case study in {B}urkina {F}aso and {N}iger - art. no. 34},
  author = {{Y}aka, {P}. and {S}ultan, {B}enjamin and {B}routin, {H}{\'e}l{\`e}ne and {J}anicot, {S}erge and {P}hilippon, {S}. and {F}ourquet, {N}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{B}ackground: {E}very year, {W}est {A}frica is afflicted with {M}eningococcal {M}eningitis ({MCM}) disease outbreaks. {A}lthough the seasonal and spatial patterns of disease cases have been shown to be linked to climate, the mechanisms responsible for these patterns are still not well identified. {R}esults: {A} statistical analysis of annual incidence of {MCM} and climatic variables has been performed to highlight the relationships between climate and {MCM} for two highly afflicted countries: {N}iger and {B}urkina {F}aso. {W}e found that disease resurgence in {N}iger and in {B}urkina {F}aso is likely to be partly controlled by the winter climate through enhanced {H}armattan winds. {S}tatistical models based only on climate indexes work well in {N}iger showing that 25% of the disease variance from year-to-year in this country can be explained by the winter climate but fail to represent accurately the disease dynamics in {B}urkina {F}aso. {C}onclusion: {T}his study is an exploratory attempt to predict meningitis incidence by using only climate information. {A}lthough it points out significant statistical results it also stresses the difficulty of relating climate to interannual variability in meningitis outbreaks.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{I}nternational {J}ournal of {H}ealth {G}eographics},
  volume = {7},
  numero = {34},
  pages = {2},
  ISSN = {1476-072{X}},
  year = {2008},
  DOI = {10.1186/1476-072{X}-7-34},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010042740},
}