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Review
. 2023 Oct 19:11:1242891.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1242891. eCollection 2023.

Geoepidemiological perspective on COVID-19 pandemic review, an insight into the global impact

Affiliations
Review

Geoepidemiological perspective on COVID-19 pandemic review, an insight into the global impact

Alexandre Vallée. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic showed major impacts, on societies worldwide, challenging healthcare systems, economies, and daily life of people. Geoepidemiology, an emerging field that combines geography and epidemiology, has played a vital role in understanding and combatting the spread of the virus. This interdisciplinary approach has provided insights into the spatial patterns, risk factors, and transmission dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic at different scales, from local communities to global populations. Spatial patterns have revealed variations in incidence rates, with urban-rural divides and regional hotspots playing significant roles. Cross-border transmission has highlighted the importance of travel restrictions and coordinated public health responses. Risk factors such as age, underlying health conditions, socioeconomic factors, occupation, demographics, and behavior have influenced vulnerability and outcomes. Geoepidemiology has also provided insights into the transmissibility and spread of COVID-19, emphasizing the importance of asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, super-spreading events, and the impact of variants. Geoepidemiology should be vital in understanding and responding to evolving new viral challenges of this and future pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemiology; geoepidemiology; pandemic; public health; spatio-temporal epidemiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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