Climate change& threats of

infections:
Do we know what s on the
horizon?
‫قمة األمم المتحدة للمناخ ‪Cop27‬‬
 ‫• بدأ العد التنازلي النعقاد لقمة األمم المتحدة للمناخ ‪ ،Cop27‬التي ستستضيفها مدينة شرم‬
‫الشيخ المصرية بداية من ‪ 6‬نوفمبر‪ /‬تشرين الثاني المقبل‪ ،‬حتى الـ ‪ 18‬من الشهر نفسه‪.‬‬
‫• ما هو مؤتمر األمم المتحدة بشأن تغير المناخ؟‬
‫• هو قمة سنوية تحضرها ‪ 197‬دولة من أجل مناقشة تغير المناخ‪ ،‬وما تفعله هذه البلدان‪،‬‬
‫لمواجهة هذه المشكلة ومعالجتها‪.‬‬
‫• ويعد المؤتمر جزءا ً من اتفاقية األمم المتحدة اإلطارية بشأن التغير المناخي‪ ،‬وهي معاهدة‬
‫دولية وقعتها معظم دول العالم بهدف الحد من تأثير النشاط البشري على المناخ‪ .‬وهذا‬
‫المؤتمر هو السابع والعشرون منذ دخول االتفاقية حيز التنفيذ في ‪ 21‬مارس‪/‬آذار ‪.1994‬‬
• What is COP27?
• COP27 takes place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt and marks 30 years since
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) was adopted and seven years since the Paris Agreement
was agreed at COP21.
• An annual event, the ‘Conference of the Parties’ or ‘COP’ brings
together the governments which have signed the UNFCCC, the Kyoto
Protocol or the Paris Agreement.
•
‫• وتيرة ارتفاع الحرارة في الشرق االوسط هي ضعف المناطق االخرى مما يهدد‬
‫سبل عيش وحياة أبناء المنطقة‬
Outlines
• Climate change definition
• Causes of climate change
• Effects on human health
• Effects on human infections vector borne, water borne and food
borne and on respiratory infections
• Mitigation and adaptation methods
• Our role
• https://youtu.be/VBoS1FOxoac
• Definition :Climate change refers to long-term shifts in weather
conditions and patterns of extreme weather events

• world health organizations have said that climate change is a

critical public health challenge. As the planet warms, oceans
expand and sea level rises, floods and droughts become more
frequent and intense, and heat waves and hurricanes become more
severe
• The effects of climate change worsen many existing
illnesses, diseases by increasing exposure to increased
temperatures, introducing new pests and pathogens, and
impairing air quality and water resources

• Disasters and Climate-related events can severely stress

health care infrastructure and delivery systems
• Global warming is caused by gases such as carbon dioxide
trapping solar radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere, making
the climate warmer. This is commonly known as the
greenhouse effect.
• Wildfire smoke contains particulate matter, carbon
monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and various volatile organic
compounds and can significantly reduce air quality, both
locally and in areas downwind of fires.
• The intergovernmental panel on climate change IPCC report
said the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are
higher than they have been in two million years, and
methane and nitrous oxide concentration is higher than any
point in at least 800,000 years.
• According to WHO, 99% of the global population is
breathing air that exceeds quality limits and threatens
people’s health.
• It is no wonder that the United Nations has decided that the
theme for this year’s World Health Day would be
• “Our planet, our health
Causes of climate change
• 1. Fossil fuels
• 2. Deforestation
• 3. Increasing livestock farming
• 4-Fertilisers containing nitrogen
• 5- Fluorinated gases
• Such emissions have a very strong warming effect, up to 23,000 times
greater than that of carbon dioxide.
Precipitation Extremes: Heavy Rainfall, Flooding,
and Droughts
• Elevated waterborne disease outbreaks have been reported in the
weeks following heavy rainfall

• Water intrusion into buildings can result in mold contamination that

manifests later, leading to indoor air quality problems with increased
prevalence of asthma, as well as lower respiratory tract infections
such as pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia.
• . Drought conditions may increase wildfires, dust storms, extreme heat
events,

• Dust storms associated with drought conditions contribute to degraded

air quality due to particulates and have been associated with increased
incidence of coccidioidomycosis (valley fever), a fungal pathogen, in
Arizona and California.

• drought can results in the concentration of bacteria in fresh waters.

• Global warming has certainly changed the geographic
distribution of mosquitoes and the diseases that they can
carry. These include serious infections such as dengue,
chikungunya, and malaria.
• Certain vectors may also move to areas of higher altitude
where lower temperatures might have put them off in the
past.
• Wind : positive correlation between dust particle
association/attachment and virus survival/transporting
• and the presence of desert dust in the atmosphere during Asian dust
storms (ADSs) is associated with increased concentration of cultivable
bacteria, cultivable fungi, and fungal spores
• viruses of infectious diseases be transported across ocean by dust
particles which may facilitate the transmission of viruses between
distant hosts.
• The impact of climate change on pathogens can be direct,
through influencing the survival, reproduction, and life
cycle of pathogens, or indirect, through influencing the
habitat, environment, or competitors of pathogens.
• Rising global temperatures also mean that diseases that
were once concentrated around the equator will now move
both north in the Northern Hemisphere and south in the
Southern Hemisphere
• Floods and storms can lead to wastewater overflow, compromising
safe drinking water and spreading pathogens, leading to a rise
in noroviruses, rotavirus and cholera.
• Melting ice and thawing permafrost can lead to the release of strains
of ancient deadly pathogens such as anthrax that were frozen
are now unleashed – this seems to have been the cause of a recent
anthrax outbreak in the Arctic circle.
• In 2021, the world’s attention continues to be on covid-19.
• Some people have said that the covid pandemic could not
have been predicted – but there have been warning signs for
many years.
• These include outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, Influenza, and
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Europe has seen the
biggest rise of West Nile encephalitis in recent years There
have also been warnings that climate change could
contribute to infectious disease outbreaks
• These climate hazards can change the risk of infectious diseases
Disruptions to habitats can drive wildlife like bats, rodents and
primates to find new areas to live in, which can bring them much
closer to human habitations, making zoonotic exposures more likely.
Climate change and human health
• Asthma, Respiratory Allergies, and Airway Diseases
• 2. Cancer
• 3. Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke
• 4. Foodborne Diseases and Nutrition
• 5. Heat-Related Morbidity and Mortality
• 6. Human Developmental Effects
• 7. Mental Health and Stress-Related Disorders
• 8. Neurological Diseases and Disorders
• 9. Vector borne and Zoonotic Diseases
• 10. Waterborne Diseases
• The researchers warn that not only will climate change
aggravate existing diseases, it could also create evolutionary
pressures for more heat-resistant pathogens that might be
more dangerous for human beings as they will be able to
survive one of our body’s main defense mechanisms – fever.
Climate Change and Respiratory Infections
• In particular, climate change may alter the incidence and severity of
respiratory infections by affecting vectors and host immune
responses.
• Certain respiratory infections, such as avian influenza and
coccidioidomycosis, are occurring in locations previously unaffected,
apparently because of global warming.
• Several reports have linked infection outbreaks directly or indirectly
to climate change.:
• The tularemia outbreak in Turkey between 2010 and 2012 ,
• the Hantavirus outbreak in Panama between 1999 and 2000 ,
• the windborne coccidioidomycosis outbreak in California in 1977
• and aspergillosis among the survivors of the tsunami in Japan in
2011 are examples
• Both influenza and streptococcal pneumonia have higher incidence
during winter that could be attributed to close contact, lower
humidity and greater virus transmission
• In the tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and Africa, the
prevalence and mortality from pneumonia are higher during
the rainy season, again showing the association of temperature
and precipitation with pneumonia patterns
with increasing global temperature, the relationships are more
complex. Fluctuating temperatures affect the incidence and mortality
of respiratory infections
• An Australian study showed a correlation between sharp temperature
drops from one day to the next and increased emergency visits for
childhood pneumonia. The most important variable associated with
childhood pneumonia was “temperature change between two
neighboring days
• A recent report highlighted the importance of climate change and
exposure to prairie dogs, a common reservoir for Y. pestis, as the
source of a pulmonary plague outbreak.
• This could mean that climate change will foster the spread of
infectious diseases into new regions and new hosts
• influenza outbreaks have a positive association with geographical
differences in minimum temperature and specific humidity
Vector borne
and Zoonotic Diseases
the transmission cycles and VBZD disease incidence are affected
• Health impacts from changing distributions of VBZD are likely to be
clear over the next several decades,
• Climate change could bring malaria, epidemic typhus, plague, and
yellow fever to their former prominence
• Australian report: Dengue under the warmer and wetter scenario, the
geographic region suitable for the transmission of dengue is expected
to move far south from its current position, as far as northern NSW by
2100
• Emerging zoonotic disease outbreaks are increasing, with
the majority of recent major human infectious disease
outbreaks worldwide as well as significant emerging diseases
such as SARS, Nipah virus, and HIV/AIDS, originating in
animals
• changes to ecosystems and disease transmission resulting
from climate change result in Interactions of wildlife with
domestic animals and with people will likely increase
Waterborne Diseases
• Climate directly impacts the incidence of waterborne disease through
effects on water temperature and precipitation frequency and
intensity
• and risks for human disease are markedly affected by local conditions,
including regional water and sewage treatment capacities and
practices.
• droughts may cause problems with increased concentrations of
effluent pathogens and overwhelm water treatment plants;
• Climate also indirectly impacts waterborne disease through changes
in ocean and coastal ecosystems including changes in pH, nutrient
and contaminant runoff, salinity, and water security result in
degradation of fresh water available for drinking, washing food,
cooking, and irrigation
• Other climate-related environmental changes may impact marine
food webs as well, such as pesticide runoff, leaching of arsenic,
fluoride, and nitrates from fertilizers, and lead contamination of
drinking and recreational waters through excess rainfall and flooding.
Effects on food borne infections
• The number of cases of gastroenteritis will rise over the coming
century, due to increases in cases caused by Salmonella and other
bacteria.
• Rainy season is related to the increase of fecal pathogens as heavy
rain may stir up sediments in water, leading to the accumulation of
fecal micro organisms
Climate change, its impact on human health in the
Arctic
• Because climate change is more advanced in the Arctic than other
regions of the world, the Arctic can play a vital role in preparing the
world for what is to come.
• Direct health threats from climate change include morbidity and
mortality resulting from increasing extreme events (storms, floods,
increased heat and cold) and an increased incidence of injury and
mortality associated with unpredictable ice and storm conditions.
Indirect effects include increased mental and social stress related to
changes in environment and loss of traditional lifestyle; potential
changes
• Food storage methods often include above ground air-drying of fish
and meat at ambient temperature, below ground cold storage on or
near the permafrost, and fermentation below ground cold storage
on or near the permafrost, and fermentation
• Changes in climate may prevent the drying of fish or meat, resulting
in spoilage. Similarly, loss of the permafrost may result in spoilage of
food stored below ground
• Outbreaks of food-borne botulism occur sporadically in communities
in the Arctic and are caused by ingestion of improperly prepared
fermented traditional foods Because germination of Clostridium
botulinum spores and toxin production occurs at temperatures above
4°C
• Outbreaks of Vibrio parahemolyticus gastroenteritis are commonly
associated with sea water temperatures above 15°C
• Similarly, warmer temperatures in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions
could support the expansion of the geographical range and
populations of foxes and voles, common carriers of Echinococcus
multilocularis and the cause of alveolar echinococcus in humans
•
• Climate change may influence the density and distribution of
animal hosts and mosquito vectors which could result in an increase
in human illness or a shift in the geographical range of disease caused
by these agents.
• In Sweden the incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has
substantially increased since the mid-1980s
• Similarly in Northeastern Canada, climate change is projected to
result in a northward shift in the range of Ixodes scapularis, a tick that
carries Borrelia burgdorferi the etiologic agent of Lyme disease
• Major increases in the prevalence of hantavirus and tick-borne
infections in human populations in northern Europe and central Asia
during the last decade have been associated with rodent population
irruptions linked to a series of exceptionally warm winters
• The increase in the rodent population, milder weather and less
snow cover were probably contributing factors
Mitigation and Adaptation
• Immediate actions can be taken to lessen the effects of climate
change (mitigation) and to build resilience to reduce the impact on
health and the health of future generations (adaptation). Many of
these actions can yield benefits for health, the environment,
economy, and society at the same time
What, can we do about this?
• The obvious answer is to prevent further climate change, but this
will take years to happen.
• In the meantime, we have to ensure that global and local knowledge
is current and that we adapt to changing circumstances. For example,
malaria control measures may need to be extended to higher
latitudes and sometimes to higher altitudes.
• The future will also be about adapting our index of clinical suspicion
so that we think about new and emerging infectious diseases as part
of our differential diagnosis when we see a patient with an unusual
illness.
• Alternative energy production, carbon sequestration, and water
reuse and recycling
• Other modes of electric power generation Shifting to wind and solar
power, however, will reduce demand on surface waters and,
therefore, limit impacts on local water ecosystems and potentially
reduce risks of waterborne diseases.
• Transmission of bacterial pathogens can be reduced with proper food
handling and storage and good hygiene.
• Regulation and enforcement of appropriate industry standards
alongside and public education campaigns to promote good practice
could reduce the expected impact of climate change on all enteric
infections
• hospitals and aged care facilities will need to take particular care.
Improved tracking of foods and ingredients throughout production
and transport, and the speedy investigation of outbreaks, would
facilitate a more rapid recall of contaminated food and reduce disease
• Mitigation activities focused on land use changes, particularly
preservation of forests and wetlands, are likely to impact VBZD
ecology and transmission cycles as well
• For example, changes to wetlands may affect mosquito burden in
certain areas by altering breeding area size and potentially altering
the incidence of malaria, dengue, or other mosquito-borne diseases.
• encouraging air conditioning use as an adaptation strategy against
extreme heat may provide a co-benefit of reduced exposure to VBZD
• Stay safe from mosquito bites
• Avoid risks from floods
• a number of health risks to swimmers, including exposure to toxins
from blue-green algal blooms, which are expected to become more
frequent with climate change.
• Cryptosporidiosis outbreaks associated with swimming pools are
expected to become more common
• Be aware of air pollution
• Keep food safe
• There are plenty of positive things you can do to help slow or reduce
climate change including:
• Reducing your reliance on cars by using
• active transport or public transport
• Eating a diet rich in
plant-based foods, including fruits,
vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains, and
with fewer animal-based foods is good for your health and the
environment.
summary

• There is abundant evidence that human activities are altering the

earth’s climate and that climate change will have significant health
impacts
• While all of the changes associated with this process are not
predetermined, the actions we take today will certainly help to
shape our environment in the decades to come
• down-scaling longterm climate models to estimate human exposure
risks and burden of disease.
• Integrated data systems should incorporate a breadth of
environmental parameters, as well as sociodemographic parameters
such as population, income, and education
• The research needs described in this document should guide the
process, helping us to develop the proper tools and make informed
choices that will ultimately result in better health and better lives
for the citizens of the world.
• Many additional disciplines including ecology, social science,
economics, geography, behavioral psychology, and others will need
to play a vital role in climate and health decision making.
• Figure | Climate change has direct impacts on five aspects of the
human environment (red lines, purple circles) that in turn impact
additional environmental factors. These environmental changes then
alter twelve separate aspects of human health (tan boxes). Mitigation
and adaptation alter the human environment in order to address
climate change and, in this way, alter human health. Finally,
susceptible populations exist for all climate-targeted health points,
and the health systems play an integral role in addressing the health
concerns driven by climate change.
 ‫وآخر دعوانا‬
‫أن الحمد هلل رب العالمين‬
‫شكرا لحسن استماعكم‬