Climate Change and Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-62
Author(s):  
Emily Ying Yang Chan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stroke ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
World Health ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Extreme Temperature Events ◽  
Health Organization

Climate change poses one of the biggest threats to public health in the twenty-first century. Climate-related disasters include extreme temperature events, extreme precipitation, sea-level rise, flooding, and drought. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, climate change may lead to an annual death rate of 250,000 between 2030 and 2050. The direct health impact of climate change includes mortality and morbidity associated with extreme temperature (e.g. heat stroke) and changing patterns of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as a result of more frequent and severe extreme temperature events. Climate change also has indirect health impacts by facilitating the breeding of mosquitoes to spread vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, reducing access to clean water and food supplies resulted from drought or flood, and leading to forced migration associated with the loss of economic livelihood of communities. Adaptation and mitigation are the two main approaches adopted to alleviate and manage the health risks of climate change to achieve climate-resilient pathways for sustainable development.

scholarly journals Engaging healthcare providers and patients on climate action through physical, emotional and social wellness

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-9
Author(s):  
Minna Allarakhia
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
World Health ◽  
Sustainable Living ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
Health Organization

According to the World Health Organization, the health challenges from climate change are many and varied including: Malnutrition due to lack of quality food access. Mental health challenges in addition to severe socioeconomic challenges, through the loss of homes, jobs and needed social connections due to extreme events. Acute illness and the risk of water-borne diseases associated with lack of access to clean water. The increased risk of vector-borne diseases with warmer temperatures. Chronic illnesses associated with heat stress and pollution. Death from cardiovascular and respiratory disease, particularly among vulnerable people as temperatures rise to extreme levels. Both healthcare providers and patients must be engaged on climate change and action. While several medical training institutions are exploring opportunities to embed climate change and health education into their curricula, of importance are the holistic strategies to engage patients on climate action. The challenges are complex, and the data is overwhelming. Patients may not fully comprehend the personal implications of climate change and as citizens, may not understand their role in climate action. We suggest through the creation of a sustainable living mindset based on wellness, it is possible for healthcare providers to create a personal and emotional connection to climate action. The results from workshops with older adults are shared in this paper, demonstrating how the link to physical, emotional and social wellness, can encourage behavior change with respect to dietary and consumption practices as well as increased connection to and protection of greenspaces for health and well-being.  

scholarly journals Newborns at risk of Covid-19 ― lessons from the last year

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malika D. Shah ◽  
Ola Didrik Saugstad
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Transmission ◽  
Mode Of Delivery ◽  
Newborn Infants ◽  
World Health ◽  
Premature Delivery ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Skin Contact ◽  
Cord Clamping ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract After more than 1 year of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, a great deal of knowledge on how this virus affects pregnant women, the fetus and the newborn has accumulated. The gap between different guidelines how to handle newborn infants during this pandemic has been minimized, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)’s recommendations are now more in accordance with those of the World Health Organization (WHO). In this article we summarize present knowledge regarding transmission from mother to the fetus/newborn. Although both vertical and horizontal transmission are rare, SARS-CoV-2 positivity is associated with an increased risk of premature delivery and higher neonatal mortality and morbidity. Mode of delivery and cord clamping routines should not be affected by the mother’s SARS-CoV-2 status. Skin to skin contact, rooming in and breastfeeding are recommended with necessary hygiene precautions. Antibodies of infected or vaccinated women seem to cross both the placenta and into breast milk and likely provide protection for the newborn.

scholarly journals From the Field to the Laboratory: Quantifying Outdoor Mosquito Landing Rate to Better Evaluate Topical Repellents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Moreno-Gómez ◽  
Rubén Bueno-Marí ◽  
Andrea Drago ◽  
Miguel A Miranda
Keyword(s):  
World Health ◽  
Asian Tiger Mosquito ◽  
Personal Protection ◽  
Evaluation Standards ◽  
Testing Conditions ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Asian Tiger ◽  
The World ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Vector-borne diseases are a worldwide threat to human health. Often, no vaccines or treatments exist. Thus, personal protection products play an essential role in limiting transmission. The World Health Organization (WHO) arm-in-cage (AIC) test is the most common method for evaluating the efficacy of topical repellents, but it remains unclear whether AIC testing conditions recreate the mosquito landing rates in the field. This study aimed to estimate the landing rate outdoors, in an area of Europe highly infested with the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894, Diptera: Culididae)), and to determine how to replicate this rate in the laboratory. To assess the landing rate in the field, 16 individuals were exposed to mosquitoes in a highly infested region of Italy. These field results were then compared to results obtained in the laboratory: 1) in a 30 m3 room where nine volunteers were exposed to different mosquito abundances (ranges: 15–20, 25–30, and 45–50) and 2) in a 0.064 m3 AIC test cage where 10 individuals exposed their arms to 200 mosquitoes (as per WHO requirements). The highest mosquito landing rate in the field was 26.8 landings/min. In the room test, a similar landing rate was achieved using 15–20 mosquitoes (density: 0.50–0.66 mosquitoes/m3) and an exposure time of 3 min. In the AIC test using 200 mosquitoes (density: 3,125 mosquitoes/m3), the landing rate was 229 ± 48 landings/min. This study provides useful reference values that can be employed to design new evaluation standards for topical repellents that better simulate field conditions.

scholarly journals Mitigation/Adaptation and Health: Health Policymaking in the Global Response to Climate Change and Implications for other Upstream Determinants

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 629-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay F. Wiley
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Health ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
World Health ◽  
Environmental Concerns ◽  
The Face ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
United Nations System ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Development Objectives

In coming decades, enhanced global health governance will be crucial to achieving international health and development objectives in the face of a number of challenges; this article focuses on one of them. Climate change, which is now widely recognized as the defining challenge of the 21st century, will make the work of ensuring the conditions in which people can be healthy more difficult in a myriad of ways. Scientists from both the health and climate communities have been highlighting the significant interaction between climate and health for decades and have made significant strides in integrating health and environmental research. Those of us in the law and policy community have been a bit slow to catch up, and have only just begun to call for better integration of our responses to health and environmental concerns. Environmental health specialists at the World Health Organization have recently pointed to a mandate for better integration of health and environmental concerns within the United Nations system. The Millennium Development Goals interweave health, environmental, and development concerns.

scholarly journals Nicho ecológico actual y futuro de la Leishmaniasis (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) en la región Neotropical

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Moo-Llanes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Visceral Leishmaniasis ◽  
Complex Disease ◽  
Protozoan Parasite ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
World Health ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Rcp Scenarios ◽  
Bioclimatic Variables ◽  
Health Organization

The leishmaniasis is a complex disease system, caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania and transmitted to humans by the vector Lutzomyia spp. Since it is listed as a neglected disease according to the World Health Organization, the aim of this study was to determine the current and future niche of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in the Neotropical region. We built the ecological niche model (ENM) of cutaneous (N= 2 910 occurrences) and visceral (N= 851 occurrences) leishmaniasis using MaxEnt algorithm. Nine bioclimatic variables (BIO1, BIO4, BIO5, BIO6, BIO7, BIO12, BIO13, BIO14, BIO15 (downloaded from the Worldclim) and disease occurrences data were used for the construction of ENM for three periods (current, 2050 and 2070) and four climate change scenarios (RCP 2.6, 4.5, 6.0 y 8.5). We analyzed the number of pixels occupied, identity niche, modified niche (stable, loss, and gain) and seasonality. Our analyses indicated the expansion for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL), a comparison for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). We rejected the null hypothesis of niche identity between CL and VL with Hellinger’s index = 0.91 (0.92-0.98) and Schoener’s Index = 0.67 (0.85-1.00) but with an overlap niche of 56.3 %. The differences between the two leishmaniasis types were detected in relation to RCP scenarios and niche shifts (area gained / loss). Seasonality was more important for CL. We provided a current picture of CL and VL distributions and the predicted distributional changes associated to different climate change scenarios for the Neotropical region. We can anticipate that increasing range is likely although it will depend locally on the future trends in weather seasonality.

scholarly journals Comunicando el Cambio Climático desde un Encuadre de Salud = Communicating Climate Change from a Health Frame

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 99
Author(s):  
José Daniel Cáceres Pinto
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
World Health ◽  
Success Story ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Impact

Resumen: Organismos internacionales coinciden que el cambio climático representa una amenaza para el ser humano, particularmente para su salud. Entidades como la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) y voces de la comunidad científica han venido advirtiendo sobre los efectos que las distor­siones climáticas están teniendo sobre la propagación de enfermedades cuyos vectores dependen de su entorno. Sectores vitales para el desarrollo social como la distribución del agua, la agricultu­ra, y la sanidad pública se están viendo cada vez más amenazados por la vorágine climatológica. Sin embargo, persiste una indiferencia silenciosa en diferentes segmentos sociales que consideran el Cambio Climático como un problema abstracto o simplemente algo muy sobre sus capacidades de resolución. Desactivar este desafecto, concienciar a la población general y movilizar a la toma de acción han sido unos de los retos que diversos actores sociales han asumido. Uno de los casos de éxito que más llama la atención ha sido el uso de encuadres de salud. El siguiente artículo di­secciona el impacto que el Cambio Climático tiene y presenta el caso sobre el uso de la promoción de la salud en EEUU para concienciar sobre la problemática ambiental.Palabras clave: Salud; Cambio Climático; encuadres; mensaje.Abstract: International organizations agree that climate change poses a threat to the human being, parti­cularly to his health. Entities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and voices from the scientific community have been warning about the effects the climatic distortions are having on the propagation of illnesses which vectors depend on their surroundings. Vital sectors for social development such as water distribution, agriculture, and public health are progressively seeing themselves more threatened by the climatic maelstrom. Nevertheless, an indifferent silence per­sists in different social segments who consider Climate change as an abstract problem or simply something out of their reach to resolve. Deactivating this disaffection, raising awareness in the ge­neral population and mobilize to take action have been some of the challenges social actors have undertaken. One particular success story that grabs the attention is the use of health frames. The following article dissects the impact that Climate Change has and presents the case of the use of health promotion in the USA to raise awareness about the environmental problem.Keywords: Health; Climate Change; Frames; Message.

Clinical analyses of 383 cases with maternal cardiac diseases

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emine Aydin ◽  
Ozgur Ozyuncu ◽  
Dila Kasapoglu ◽  
Gokcen Orgul ◽  
Necla Ozer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pregnancy Outcomes ◽  
Heart Diseases ◽  
Class Ii ◽  
World Health ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Cardiac Diseases ◽  
Class Iii ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Eisenmenger’S Syndrome ◽  
Health Organization

Abstract Aim: To evaluate the pregnancy outcomes of women with heart disease. Materials and methods: In this retrospective study, 383 pregnant women with cardiac diseases were examined. The cases were classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The distribution of the cases according to class, congenital heart diseases, mean birthweight, mean gestational week at delivery, type of delivery [cesarean section (CS) or vaginal delivery], and cardivascular events (during pregnancy and puerperium) were evaluated. Results: Of the 383 patients, 25 were in Class I; 39, Class II; 255, Class II or III; 31, Class III; and 33, Class IV cardiac diseases. The neonatal birth weights were significantly lower in Class III than in Classes II, and II or III. The preterm delivery rate was higher in Class III than in the other classes. Delivery was performed by CS due to cardiac indications in the high-risk classes, however, only obstetric indications were considered in the low-risk classes. Only one case of maternal death occurred during the postpartum period, in a patient with Eisenmenger’s syndrome. Discussion: Cardiovascular diseases are an important cause of mortality and morbidity in pregnancy. The adverse impact of cardiovascular disorders on pregnancy outcomes should be the main concern during the management of these women.

scholarly journals Future Temperature Extremes Will Be More Harmful: A New Critical Factor for Improved Forecasts

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (20) ◽  
pp. 4015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Costas A. Varotsos ◽  
Yuri A. Mazei
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Temperature Change ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Extreme Temperature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Extreme Temperature Events ◽  
The Past

There is increasing evidence that extreme weather events such as frequent and intense cold spells and heat waves cause unprecedented deaths and diseases in both developed and developing countries. Thus, they require extensive and immediate research to limit the risks involved. Average temperatures in Europe in June–July 2019 were the hottest ever measured and attributed to climate change. The problem, however, of a thorough study of natural climate change is the lack of experimental data from the long past, where anthropogenic activity was then very limited. Today, this problem can be successfully resolved using, inter alia, biological indicators that have provided reliable environmental information for thousands of years in the past. The present study used high-resolution quantitative reconstruction data derived from biological records of Lake Silvaplana sediments covering the period 1181–1945. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a slight temperature change in the past could trigger current or future intense temperature change or changes. Modern analytical tools were used for this purpose, which eventually showed that temperature fluctuations were persistent. That is, they exhibit long memory with scaling behavior, which means that an increase (decrease) in temperature in the past was always followed by another increase (decrease) in the future with multiple amplitudes. Therefore, the increase in the frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme temperature events due to climate change will be more pronounced than expected. This will affect human well-being and mortality more than that estimated in today’s modeling scenarios. The scaling property detected here can be used for more accurate monthly to decadal forecasting of extreme temperature events. Thus, it is possible to develop improved early warning systems that will reduce the public health risk at local, national, and international levels.

scholarly journals Typhoid Conjugate Vaccines and Enteric Fever Control: Where to Next?

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S185-S190
Author(s):  
A Duncan Steele ◽  
Megan E Carey ◽  
Supriya Kumar ◽  
Calman A MacLennan ◽  
Lyou-Fu Ma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Impact ◽  
World Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Conjugate Vaccines ◽  
Immunization Strategies ◽  
Global Demand ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Potential Use

Abstract After the unprecedented success and acceleration of the global agenda towards typhoid fever control with a strong World Health Organization recommendation and the approval of funding from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), for the use of a new typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), we should turn our minds to the challenges that remain ahead. Despite the evidence showing the safety and clinical efficacy of TCV in endemic populations in developing countries, we should remain vigilant and explore hurdles for the full public health impact of TCV, including vaccine supply for the potential global demand, immunization strategies to optimize the effectiveness and long-term protection provided by the vaccines, potential use of TCV in outbreak settings, and scenarios for addressing chronic carriers. Finally, challenges face endemic countries with poor surveillance systems concerning awareness of the need for TCV and the extent of the issue across their populations, and how to target immunization strategies appropriately.

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