Lior Latimer
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Kevin Bakker, Assistant Research Scientist
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Epidemiology, School of Public Health
Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021
Session: Session 4 (2pm-2:50pm)
Breakout Room: Room 8
Presenter: 3
Abstract
Dysentery is an infection causing inflammation of the intestines and bloody diarrhea. It is often spread via contaminated food and water and was a prevalent public health concern throughout the twentieth century and still today to an extent. Data provided by the World Health Organization from 1944-1977 categorizes dysentery as either amoebic or bacillary. Amoebic dysentery is caused by the parasite, amoeba Entamoeba histolytica, and bacillary dysentery is caused by the Shigella bacteria. Dysentery cases were examined in a variety of countries around the world from 1944-1977. This data was first scanned from World Health Organization record books, and PDFs were converted into Excel files using optical character recognition (OCR) software. The cumulative data over the entire timespan was then graphed and visualized using the R programming language using time series to determine if any trends in seasonality existed for either or both forms of dysentery. These visualizations will help doctors and public health professionals better understand the seasonality of dysentery as well as where and when it is most prevalent. This will provide vital information that can improve timing and delivery of treatment in parts of the world with high incidences of dysentery.
Authors: Kevin Bakker, Lior Latimer
Research Method: Data Collection and Analysis
