Determinantes espaciales de la malaria en España del siglo XVIII al XX / Spatial determinants of malaria in Spain from 18th to 20th century

Actualmente, el paludismo o malaria no circula de forma activa en muchos países de renta alta, y la mayoría de los casos que se producen en el mundo se localizan en el continente africano. España fue un territorio habitual para el paludismo hasta 1964, fecha en que se confirmó su erradicación en nuestro país. El objetivo de este estudio es investigar, desde una perspectiva geográfica e integradora, el paludismo en España a lo largo de los siglos XVIII, XIX y XX. La interrelación o superposición de diversos factores resultaría determinante en la persistencia de situaciones endémicas a lo ancho de las grandes cuencas hidrográficas al oeste e interior peninsular, así como en la fachada levantina, principalmente. No obstante, sería la actividad humana la que moduló, en última instancia, fluctuaciones locales en esta distribución, creando o modificando las condiciones idóneas para la aparición del paludismo. La malaria epidémica también se caracterizaría por emerger de una interrelación de partes en un sistema complejo, y en ella destacó el papel de fenómenos atmosféricos extremos.(AU)

Nowadays paludism, also known as malaria, is not an active disease in most of high-rent countries, while the majority of newly reported cases are located in the African continent. Malaria was present in Spain until 1964, when its eradication was confirmed in our country. The aim of this study is to investigate paludism in Spain through XVIIIth, XIXth and XXth centuries, from a holistic, geographical perspective. In most of our selected time lapse, persistent endemic situations spread along the main western hydrographic basins of the Peninsula, and also affected the Mediterranean coastal provinces: such distribution was determined by several interrelating factors. However, it was human activity that utterly shaped the local configuration of paludism, creating or transforming environmental conditions related to the development of endemic or epidemic situations. Epidemic malaria was also a product of interactions taking place in a complex system, and extreme atmospheric phenomena may have played an important role in it.(AU)

Latitude and longitude as drivers of COVID-19 waves' behavior in Europe: A time-space perspective of the pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Social restrictions and vaccination seem to have shaped the pandemic development in Europe, but the influence of geographical position is still debated. This study aims to verify whether the pandemic spread through Europe following a particular direction, during the period between the start of the pandemic and November 2021. The existence of a spatial gradient for epidemic intensity is also hypothesized. METHODS: Daily COVID-19 epidemiological data were extracted from Our World in Data COVID-19 database, which also included vaccination and non-pharmacological interventions data. Latitude and longitude of each country's centroid were used as geographic variables. Epidemic periods were delimited from epidemic surge data. Multivariable linear and Cox's regression models were performed for each epidemic period to test if geographical variables influenced surge dates. Generalized additive models (GAM) were used to test the spatial gradient hypothesis with three epidemic intensity measures. RESULTS: Linear models suggest a possible west-east shift in the first epidemic period and features a significant association of NPIs with epidemic surge delay. Neither latitude nor longitude had significant associations with epidemic surge timing in both second and third periods. Latitude displays strong negative associations with all epidemic intensity measures in GAM models. Vaccination was also negatively associated with intensity. CONCLUSIONS: A longitudinal spread of the pandemic in Europe seems plausible, particularly concerning the first wave. However, a recurrent trend was not observed. Southern Europe countries may have experienced increased transmissibility and incidence, despite climatic conditions apparently unfavourable to the virus.