Detection of hotspots and coldspots of the incidence of hand, foot and mouth diseases: A case study in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

Background: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common pediatric illness mostly caused by Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) and Human Enterovirus 71 (EV-A71). HFMD has grown significantly over the last 20 years, and it has drawn a lot of attention. To better understand of the epidemiology of HFMD, this study aims to investigate the use of Getis-Ord’s 𝐺𝑖 ∗ statistic in the identification of hotspots and coldspots of HFMD in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam. Methods: Getis-Ord’s 𝐺𝑖 ∗ statistic was first applied to identify hotspots and coldspots of HFMD incidence including highhigh, low-low spatial clusters. HFMD cases and infection rates collected in Ho Chi Minh were then used to explore the spatial clusters of HFMD Finally, the main findings will be discussed and summarised. Results: It was found that the large number of hand, foot and mouth disease cases were mainly concentrated in the western area of Ho Chi Minh City. A total of 04 hotspot clusters and 05 coldspots of HFMD infection rate were detected in the 29th week of 2024 in the west, center and north of Ho Chi Minh City, respectively. Whereas, 06 hotspots and 04 coldspots of HFMD infection rate were detected in the 30th week of 2024 in the west, south and center of Ho Chi Minh City, respectively. Conclusions: The results of this investigation confirm the value of Getis-Ord's 𝐺𝑖 ∗ statistic in the detection of hotspots and coldspots associated with confirmed cases of HFMD.