Dengue fever: Research points to climate change's role in high cases

Dengue fever has spread at alarming rates this year. New research attributes nearly a fifth of the existing dengue burden to climate change.

It has been an exceptionally bad year for dengue fever: Nearly 12 million cases were recorded in the Americas through October, close to triple last year’s total of 4.6 million.

Research being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on Saturday quantifies the role that climate change has played in the trend, attributing nearly a fifth of the existing dengue burden to rising temperatures.

By 2050, the research predicts, climate change could be responsible for a 60% increase in the incidence of dengue if emissions continue at pace, with some places — like parts of Peru, Mexico, Bolivia and Brazil — seeing spikes of up to 200%.

Public health experts have long warned that global warming enables mosquito-borne diseases to spread to new places because it expands the geographic range where the insects that serve as vectors live and thrive. Mallory Harris, a co-author of the new research and a postdoctoral associate in the University of Maryland’s biology department, said her team’s findings build evidence for the significant role climate change has played in dengue’s spread. More broadly, she said, the research highlights the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and specific health consequences.

“Dengue is a growing health threat that can cause really severe consequences. It’s something that we need to be preparing for,” Harris said. “We should be expecting these sorts of large epidemics in the future and thinking about ways to then respond to them.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dengue-fever-climate-change-rcna179629

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