Scientist finds link between dengue, storms and solar radiation

Thunderstorms and solar radiation could be contributing to a high number of dengue cases, said a scientist.

Artificial Intelligence in Medical Epidemiology (Aime) scientist Dr. Dhesi Raja said that from a pilot project on the study in Selangor last year, a correlation was found between thunderstorms and solar radiation, and dengue hotspots.

“We have not concluded why and our team is still investigating,” he said in his presentation during the DENGUE 360 Innovations on Dengue Prevention Conference on Wednesday (May 11).

Dr. Dhesi said they had come up with an application using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict dengue outbreaks one month in advance.

For Malaysia, the model was able to achieve 88.6 percent accuracy when tested in Selangor while for Brazil, it was 84.11 percent accuracy, he said.

Dr. Dhesi said the app would be available in Malaysia as soon as enough people pledged for it on crowd-backing platform Webe.