Geospatial Analysis of Abiotic and Biotic Conditions Associated with Leptospirosis in the Klaten Regency, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The Klaten Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia, is a leptospirosis endemic area. The purpose of this study is to spatially describe the abiotic and biotic environmental factors that contributed to the incidence of leptospirosis in the Klaten Regency in 2018. This was a descriptive observational with a cross-sectional approach conducted in the Klaten Regency, Central Java, in 2019 with 59 respondents. The results revealed that the percentage of abiotic environmental factors such as poor waste disposal facilities, poor gutter conditions, rivers < 200 m, and flooding history, namely 35.6%, 41.2%, 54.2%, and 6.8%, respectively. The highest leptospirosis cases occurred in April 2018, with 325 mm of rainfall, an average temperature of 27 °C, an average humidity of 82.3%, and an altitude of 100–200 MASL (79.7%). Meanwhile, biotic factors included rat nest existence (100%), having pets at risk (32.2%), and ≥three types of vegetation (79.7%). The main result confirmed that all leptospirosis cases had rat nests throughout the respondent’s house. This finding emphasizes the importance of rat pest control programs by establishing cross-sectoral collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and educating the public to also play a role in environmental cleanliness in controlling rats.

Keywords

• leptospirosis
• environmental factors
• abiotic
• biotic
• spatial analysis
• geographic information system (GIS)