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      Temporal Relationships Between Saharan Dust Proxies, Climate, and Meningitis in Senegal

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          Abstract

          The Harmattan, a dry, northeasterly trade wind, transports large quantities of Saharan dust over the Sahelian region during the dry season (December–March). Studies have shown that bacterial meningitis outbreaks in Sahelian regions show hyper‐endemic to endemic levels during high‐dust months. We examine the (a) seasonality and intraseasonal variability of dust, climate, and meningitis and the (b) quantitative relationships between various dust proxies with meningitis lags of 0–10 weeks in Senegal from 2012 to 2017. The results show that the onset of the meningitis season occurs in February, roughly 2 months after the dusty season has begun. The meningitis season peaks at the beginning of April, when northeasterly wind speeds and particulate matter (PM) are relatively high, and the meningitis season ends near the end of June, when temperature and humidity rise and northeasterly wind speeds decline. Furthermore, we find that Senegal's relatively high humidity year‐round may help slow the transmission of the infection, contributing to a lower disease incidence than landlocked countries in the meningitis belt. Lastly, our results suggest the desert dust may have a significant impact on the onset to the peak of the meningitis season in Senegal, particularly at the 0–2 and 10‐week lag, whether that be directly through biological processes or indirectly through changes in human behavior. PM and visibility, however, are not in phase with aerosol optical depth throughout the year and consequently show different relationships with meningitis. This study further exemplifies the critical need for more PM, meteorological, and meningitis measurements in West Africa to further resolve these relationships.

          Key Points

          • Senegal's relatively high humidity year‐round may favor relatively low meningitis incidence

          • Meningitis seasonality may be influenced by dust, Harmattan wind, temperature, and humidity

          • Saharan dust may affect the onset of the meningitis season through direct or indirect processes

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          Most cited references28

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          The changing frequency of dust storms through time

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            Impact of MenAfriVac in nine countries of the African meningitis belt, 2010-15: an analysis of surveillance data.

            In preparation for the introduction of MenAfriVac, a meningococcal group A conjugate vaccine developed for the African meningitis belt, an enhanced meningitis surveillance network was established. We analysed surveillance data on suspected and confirmed cases of meningitis to quantify vaccine impact.
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              Particulate matter pollution in African cities

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                auy57@psu.edu
                Journal
                Geohealth
                Geohealth
                10.1002/(ISSN)2471-1403
                GH2
                GeoHealth
                John Wiley and Sons Inc. (Hoboken )
                2471-1403
                07 February 2023
                February 2023
                : 7
                : 2 ( doiID: 10.1002/gh2.v7.2 )
                : e2021GH000574
                Affiliations
                [ 1 ] Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USA
                [ 2 ] Alliance for Education, Science, Engineering, and Development in Africa The Pennsylvania State University University Park PA USA
                [ 3 ] School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
                [ 4 ] Institute of Applied Health Research University of Birmingham Birmingham UK
                [ 5 ] Centre de Gestion de la Qualite de l’Air (CGQA) Direction de l’Environnement et des Etablissements Classes (DEEC) Dakar Senegal
                Author notes
                [*] [* ] Correspondence to:

                A. Y. Yarber,

                auy57@ 123456psu.edu

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3562-4687
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0753-3964
                Article
                GH2392 2021GH000574
                10.1029/2021GH000574
                9905059
                36776988
                f0e39039-a92b-4b1e-be16-c6bd5094a7ec
                © 2022 The Authors. GeoHealth published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Geophysical Union.

                This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

                History
                : 08 September 2022
                : 10 December 2021
                : 05 December 2022
                Page count
                Figures: 5, Tables: 1, Pages: 11, Words: 6534
                Funding
                Funded by: National Science Foundation , doi 10.13039/100000001;
                Award ID: DGE1255832
                Categories
                The COVID‐19 pandemic and environmental conditions in Africa
                Geohealth
                Public Health
                Atmospheric Composition and Structure
                Aerosols and Particles
                Atmospheric Composition and Structure
                Air/Sea Constituent Fluxes
                Pollution: Urban and Regional
                Volcanic Effects
                Biogeosciences
                Climate Dynamics
                Modeling
                Pollution: Urban, Regional and Global
                Urban Systems
                Computational Geophysics
                Modeling
                Numerical Solutions
                Cryosphere
                Avalanches
                Mass Balance
                Modeling
                Geodesy and Gravity
                Mass Balance
                Ocean Monitoring with Geodetic Techniques
                Ocean/Earth/atmosphere/hydrosphere/cryosphere interactions
                Global Change from Geodesy
                Global Change
                Abrupt/Rapid Climate Change
                Climate Variability
                Climate Dynamics
                Earth System Modeling
                Impacts of Global Change
                Land/Atmosphere Interactions
                Oceans
                Regional Climate Change
                Sea Level Change
                Solid Earth
                Water Cycles
                Hydrology
                Climate Impacts
                Hydrological Cycles and Budgets
                Land/Atmosphere Interactions
                Modeling
                Informatics
                Modeling
                Marine Geology and Geophysics
                Gravity and Isostasy
                Atmospheric Processes
                Climate Change and Variability
                Climatology
                General Circulation
                Land/Atmosphere Interactions
                Ocean/Atmosphere Interactions
                Regional Modeling
                Theoretical Modeling
                Oceanography: General
                Climate and Interannual Variability
                Marine Pollution
                Numerical Modeling
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                Climate Impact
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                Atmospheric
                Geological
                Oceanic
                Physical Modeling
                Megacities and Urban Environment
                Risk
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                Oceanography: Physical
                Air/Sea Interactions
                Decadal Ocean Variability
                General Circulation
                Ocean influence of Earth rotation
                Sea Level: Variations and Mean
                Surface Waves and Tides
                Tsunamis and Storm Surges
                Oceanography: Biological and Chemical
                Aerosols
                Paleoceanography
                Abrupt/Rapid Climate Change
                Aerosols
                Policy Sciences
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                Custom metadata
                2.0
                February 2023
                Converter:WILEY_ML3GV2_TO_JATSPMC version:6.2.5 mode:remove_FC converted:07.02.2023

                meningitis,saharan dust,climate,senegal,seasonality,correlation
                meningitis, saharan dust, climate, senegal, seasonality, correlation

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