Ali A, Shaikh A, Sethi I, Surani S. Climate change and the emergence and exacerbation of infectious diseases: A review. World J Virol 2024; 13(4): 96476 [DOI: 10.5501/wjv.v13.i4.96476]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Salim Surani, FACP, FCCP, MD, MHSc, Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, 40 Bizzell Street, College Station, TX 77843, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Virol. Dec 25, 2024; 13(4): 96476 Published online Dec 25, 2024. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v13.i4.96476
Climate change and the emergence and exacerbation of infectious diseases: A review
Amal Ali, Asim Shaikh, Imran Sethi, Salim Surani
Amal Ali, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Sindh, Pakistan
Asim Shaikh, Department of Medicine, Dow Medical College, Karachi 74200, Sindh, Pakistan
Imran Sethi, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Marion General Hospital, Marion, IN 46952, United States
Salim Surani, Department of Medicine & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
Salim Surani, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Nairobi 30270, Nairobi City, Kenya
Author contributions: Ali A, Shaikh A, Sethi I and Surani S were responsible for conceptualization, drafting, reviewing, final editing, and agreeing to the accuracy of the work; Surani S supervised and critically revised the manuscript, edited, reviewed, and agrees on the final accuracy of the work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors have any conflict of interest to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Salim Surani, FACP, FCCP, MD, MHSc, Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine & Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, 40 Bizzell Street, College Station, TX 77843, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Received: May 7, 2024 Revised: September 14, 2024 Accepted: September 30, 2024 Published online: December 25, 2024 Processing time: 163 Days and 9.2 Hours
Abstract
Experts expressed severe concerns over the possibility of increasing burden of infectious diseases as the planet’s climate began to change years ago. There have been increased rates of climate-related catastrophes and as global temperatures rise, emergence of certain viruses has become a serious concern. Vectors are susceptible to changing temperatures as they exhibit innate responses to thermal stress to increase survivability. Climate change impacts virus reservoirs, increasing transmission rates of vectors. Vector-borne diseases have already witnessed increasing numbers compared to before. Certain non-endemic areas are encountering their first-ever infectious disease cases due to increasing temperatures. Tick-borne diseases are undergoing transformations provoking a heightened prevalence. Food-borne illnesses are expected to increase owing to warmer temperatures. It is important to recognize that climate change has a multivariable impact on the transmission of viruses. With climate change comes the potential of increasing interspecies interactions promoting jumps. These factors must be considered, and an informed strategy must be formulated. Adaptation and mitigation strategies are required to curb these diseases from spreading. Despite significant evidence that climate change affects infectious diseases, gaps in research exist. We conducted this review to identify the potential role climate change plays in the emergence of new viruses.
Core Tip: Changing core temperatures and increased incidence of climate change catastrophes have led to certain infectious disease outbreaks across the globe. As the climate continues to change and leads to the destruction of local biodiversity, the consequent spread of vectors is predicted to lead to further escalation in vector-borne diseases. The global community has also expressed significant concern regarding the spread of known lethal pathogens such as malaria and the West Nile viruses. Development and implementation of National Health Adaptation Plans is recommended to predict and tackle these emerging threats effectively.
