Climate Change Impacts on Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (A Review)

Javid Ahmad Dar

National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR), Delhi (India).

Climate change is an occurring phenomenon that creates extreme weather patterns and global warming. These extreme weather patterns and global warming have a direct negative impact on infectious diseases, especially vector-borne infectious diseases. Malaria is one of the vector-borne infectious diseases that are particularly affected by climate change as it is extremely sensitive to meteorological conditions. This extreme sensitivity is creating a resurgence and redistribution of the malaria vector, the mosquito. This resurgence and redistribution of the mosquito puts an extra pressure on the public health system, especially the public health infrastructure of a developing country. An integrated framework assessment is needed for the public sector to determine the risks of climate change on infectious diseases. Infectious disease may not have affected most developed countries as they have their impact on developing countries, but with climate change this dynamics is rapidly shifting and must be addressed. The key to the integrated framework assessment is the understanding that infectious diseases have multiple determinants that are not just biological, but ecological, sociological, and epidemiological. This paper assesses the climate change impacts on vector-borne infectious diseases. A framework is necessary for the public health sector to determine the risks of epidemics in different demographics and geographic regions. Malaria is an interesting vector-borne disease as it brings up the issue of developing countries versus developed countries.

Global warming; Vector-borne infectious diseases; malaria; public health and framework