Elsevier

Environmental Research

Volume 151, November 2016, Pages 115-123
Environmental Research

Dengue in a changing climate

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2016.07.026Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the past 50 years.

  • Climate is one important driver of the current distribution and incidence of dengue.

  • The geographic ranges of the primary Aedes mosquito vectors are expanding.

  • This may lead to a greater burden of dengue in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Effective measures are needed to manage the changing spread and incidence of dengue.

Abstract

Dengue is the world’s most important arboviral disease in terms of number of people affected. Over the past 50 years, incidence increased 30-fold: there were approximately 390 million infections in 2010. Globalization, trade, travel, demographic trends, and warming temperatures are associated with the recent spread of the primary vectors Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus and of dengue. Overall, models project that new geographic areas along the fringe of current geographic ranges for Aedes will become environmentally suitable for the mosquito’s lifecycle, and for dengue transmission. Many endemic countries where dengue is likely to spread further have underdeveloped health systems, increasing the substantial challenges of disease prevention and control. Control focuses on management of Aedes, although these efforts have typically had limited effectiveness in preventing outbreaks. New prevention and control efforts are needed to counter the potential consequences of climate change on the geographic range and incidence of dengue, including novel methods of vector control and dengue vaccines.

Keywords

Climate change
Dengue
Aedes aegypti
Aedes albopictus
Vector control
Dengue vaccine

Cited by (0)

1

School of Public Health, University of Washington, 4225 Roosevelt Way NE #100, Seattle WA 98015, USA.

2

Sanofi Pasteur, Asia Pacific Epidemiology, 38 Beach Road #18-11 South Beach Tower, Singapore 189767.