Disease burden of scrub typhus in Shandong province,2006-2012

Objective To study the disease burden of scrub typhus in Shandong province from 2006 to 2012,and to provide a scientific basis for developing effective prevention measures and reasonably allocating the limited health resources.Methods The indexes of incidence,disability-adjusted life years(DALYs) and DALY rate(DALY per 100 000 population) recommended by World Health Organization(WHO) were adopted to measure the disease burden of scrub typhus.DALYs and DALY rate were calculated using DisMod Ⅱand DALY calculation template released by WHO and the overall DALY rate of the province and the rates among rural areas and populations of different gender and age were compared.Results The average annual incidence,DALYs and DALY rate of scrub typhus were 0.35/105, 63.82 years,and 0.0666 years per 100 000 persons,respectively.The annual incidence and DALY rate in the rural area were higher than thaose of the whole province.The average annual DALY rate was higher in the females than in the males,and it was the highest in the people aged from 60 to 69 years.Conclusion The results demonstrate that the disease burden of scrub typhus increases in Shandong province and the populations of the females aged from 60 to 69 years and living in rural areas are at a higher-risk of the disease.