Using Google Dengue Trends to Estimate Climate Effects in Mexico

Introduction The incidence of dengue fever (DF) has increased 30 fold between 1960 and 2010 [1]. The literature suggests that temperature plays a major role in the life cycle of the mosquito vector and in turn, the timing of DF outbreaks [2]. We use real-time data from GDT and real-time temperature estimates from NASA Earth observing systems to examine the relationship between dengue and climate in 17 Mexican states from 2003-2011. For the majority of states, we predict that a warming climate will increase the number of days the minimum temperature is within the risk range for dengue.