Climate change and infectious diseases
Climate Change and Infectious Diseases
Climate change and infectious diseases (pronunciation: /ˈklaɪmɪt ʧeɪndʒ ænd ɪnˈfɛkʃəs dɪˈzi:zɪz/) refers to the impact of climate change on the spread and severity of infectious diseases.
Etymology
The term is a combination of "climate change", which refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities, and "infectious diseases", which are disorders caused by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites.
Overview
Climate change can affect the patterns of infectious diseases, making them more widespread, more severe, or more difficult to control. Changes in temperature, precipitation, and sea level can create new habitats for disease-carrying organisms, or vectors, such as mosquitoes and ticks. These changes can also affect the timing and intensity of disease outbreaks.
Related Terms
- Vector-borne diseases: Diseases that are transmitted to humans or other animals by an organism such as a mosquito, tick, or flea.
- Zoonotic diseases: Diseases that are transmitted from animals to humans.
- Pandemic: An outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
- Epidemiology: The study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why.
Impact of Climate Change on Infectious Diseases
Climate change can affect infectious diseases in several ways. For example, warmer temperatures can extend the breeding season of disease-carrying vectors, leading to larger populations of these organisms. Changes in precipitation can create new breeding grounds for vectors, such as stagnant water pools for mosquitoes. Rising sea levels can lead to increased salinity in coastal areas, which can affect the survival and distribution of disease-carrying organisms.
Prevention and Control
Preventing and controlling the spread of infectious diseases in the context of climate change involves a combination of public health measures, such as vaccination and disease surveillance, and efforts to mitigate climate change, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Climate change and infectious diseases
- Wikipedia's article - Climate change and infectious diseases
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski