Epidemiologic mapping using the "kriging" method: application to an influenza-like illness epidemic in France

F Carrat; A J Valleron

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116236

Epidemiologic mapping using the "kriging" method: application to an influenza-like illness epidemic in France

Am J Epidemiol. 1992 Jun 1;135(11):1293-300. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116236.

Authors

F Carrat¹, A J Valleron

Affiliation

¹ Unité de Recherches Biomathématiques et Biostatistiques, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France.

PMID: 1626546
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116236

Abstract

This paper presents the application of a technique from the earth sciences, the "kriging" method, to the field of geographic epidemiology. Both the principles of the method and the basic equations are given. A key advantage of the method is that it relies on an analysis of the spatial variability of the data and allows the representation of the variable under study as a continuous process throughout a country. Application of the kriging method to the geographic distribution of an epidemic of influenza-like illness in France is discussed.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Epidemiologic Methods*
France / epidemiology
Humans
Influenza, Human / epidemiology*
Maps as Topic*
Space-Time Clustering
Stochastic Processes