Geographical Distribution of Childhood Acute Leukaemia in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Mexico and Its Correlation with the Wireless and High Voltage Network

摘要

This first study conducted by the University of Guadalajara, the Pediatric National Social Security Medical Center, the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara and the General Hospital of Guadalajara, shows the geographical and temporal distribution of 269 cases of children suffering from leukaemia in 6 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (2014). In Mexico, geographical information systems (GIS) have been rarely implemented to monitor spatial assessments of leukaemia. We present an analysis of the spatial distribution of acute leukaemia among children from 0 to 16 years of age in the metropolitan zone of Guadalajara, Mexico using individual case hospital data from the three main hospital facilities treating this population. Methods: Using the approach of spatial epidemiology DBSCAN and 1-dist. cases of leukaemia obtained from the databases of hospitals resulted in "clusters" or groups of cases/100,000 inhabitants. Cancer cases were grouped according to an internationally recognized morphology. Results: The results show the occurrence of 94 cases of leukaemia along the deployment path of high voltage electricity, or 36% of all reported cases are located less than 100 meters in distance from a distribution line and other results shows 24 cases/100,000 inhabitants for leukaemia (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia) LLA and 4.4 cases/100,000 inhabitants for leukaemia AML (acute myeloid leukaemia). These resulting measurements exceed international norms. The values are usually 3-5 cases/100,000 for LLA and 0.8 cascs/100,000 for AML. Conclusions: Although the etiology of most childhood leukaemias is unknown, there is a significant correlation between spatial disease cluster (with an unusually elevated disease incidence rate) and both the high voltage distribution network and the wireless communication network. Studies in the literature have focused on childhood leukaemia because of its relatively large incidence among children compared with other malignant disease, its apparent tendency to cluster, and the public concern over locally elevated leukaemia incidence.