IPUMS International – Page 2

Malaria Transmission in Context: Linking Health, Census, and Ecological Data

January 18, 2023January 12, 2023 by mpcblog

by Yara Ghazal, Ilyana Hohenkirk, Tracy Kugler, and Kelly Searle

Malaria, like many vector-borne diseases, impacts health, economic growth, and society. The burden of malaria incidence and death is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa; in 2020, 95% of all malaria cases and 96% of all deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO, 2022). Malaria impacts not only population health but also the economic growth of these 32 countries. It is estimated that up to 1.3% of economic growth in this region of Africa is slowed each year due to malaria (CCP-JHU, 2015). Understanding malaria transmission is essential to ending its spread and creating a healthier and more prosperous future for developing nations.

The literature on malaria transmission patterns has shown that several environmental factors impact mosquito and parasite vital rates, and thus affect the transmission intensity, seasonality, and geographical distribution of malaria (Castro, 2017). Temperature and precipitation are the primary climate-based factors that influence malaria transmission patterns. Temperature creates geographical constraints for vector and parasite development. Increasing temperatures have been found to shorten mosquito maturation time and increase feeding frequency. However, areas of extremely high temperatures usually yield smaller, less fecund mosquitoes. In parallel, because mosquitoes often breed in pools formed by rainfall and flooding, the frequency, duration, and intensity of precipitation have a significant influence on mosquito populations.

IPUMS at ICFP2022

November 30, 2022 by mpcblog

by Devon Kristiansen

IPUMS was proud to partake in the International Conference on Family Planning in Pattaya City, Thailand. We participated by hosting a pre-conference workshop, sponsoring the conference, staffing an exhibit both, and presenting research as part of the conference program. The conference, held between November 14th and 17th, 2022, had 3,500 in-person attendees, with many virtual participants, as well.

Research staff representing IPUMS PMA, IPUMS DHS, IPUMS MICS, and IPUMS International conducted a 2-hour pre-conference workshop, providing participants with an overview of each of the IPUMS data collections featuring international data as well as a website and data analysis demonstration.

IPUMS International has brand new low level geographic variables and shapefiles

September 22, 2022July 8, 2022 by mpcblog

By Quinn Heimann

Map showing percentage of households with internet access in the 2014 Myanmar census by township — Map of Myanmar Internet Access

An ongoing goal and challenge for IPUMS-International (IPUMSI) is providing users with the most detailed geography possible. A unique obstacle to this is the confidentiality requirements agreed upon in order to distribute these census and survey samples. Nevertheless, IPUMSI has started launching lower-level geographic variables in samples where data is sufficient and confidentiality thresholds are still met. As of spring 2022, twenty samples have been released with third administrative level geographic data, covering ten countries across Africa and Asia. In addition, accompanying shapefiles are also being distributed to supplement these variables. Shapefiles can be used in conjunction with these more granular geographic variables to map out population trends in greater detail.

Screenshot to IPUMS International third level download page — IPUMSI third level download page

Many of these countries have multiple samples with lower level geography variables available. It is always a goal of IPUMSI to provide users with as much detail as possible for each sample, but this is sometimes hindered by a lack of sufficient data or detail. Some countries, such as Bangladesh and Mali, contain sufficient detail to provide lower level geography for all available samples in IPUMSI. More recent samples often contain more detail and more thorough documentation, whereas oftentimes this level of information is not present for samples produced longer ago.