Analysis of Dengue in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Patients in Puerto Rico

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the VA organization responsible for providing healthcare to over 5 million patients annually at 153 medical centers and over 900 outpatient clinics across the United States and U.S. territories. The VA Subject Matter Expertise Center for Biological Events (SMEC-bio) aims to leverage data in the extensive VHA electronic health records system and other sources to provide decision support to leadership for emerging infectious disease threats. Initial SMEC-bio work to examine this capability suggested that the increased incidence of dengue disease in the VHA patient population in PR in 2010 may be related to increased rainfall (see reference). This present work analyzes dengue incidence in the PR VHA patient population over time to understand disease trends and contribute to a framework for predictive analysis. This paper describes trend analyses of dengue and dengue-like illness in VHA patient data in Puerto Rico (PR) with the goal of developing mechanisms for improved early warning and situational awareness of infectious disease threats.