Malaria down, dengue up: Climate change reshaping disease spread

Ahmedabad: In the past few years, the vector-borne disease (VBD) trend in India is changing, with cases of malaria going down and those of dengue going up. "One of the reasons is the vectors for both diseases are different, and they are reacting differently to the rise in temperature. While Anopheles mosquitoes – the vectors for malaria – are not very resilient at high temperatures, Aedes aegypti – the vectors for dengue – are," said Dr Santasabuj Das, Director of ICMR-NIOH.

The ICMR-NIOH hosted the Indo-US Conference on the theme ‘Climate Change Impacts on Occupational and Environmental Health' from Feb 26 to 28 in the city. On the sidelines of the conference, Dr Das added that while average annual temperatures are rising globally, it impacts events ranging from the rise in cyclonic events to the life cycle of disease vectors.

"We intend to come out with a white paper as the culmination of the conference that can take the shape of policy guidelines," he said.

Dr Vikas Kapil from Emory University of the US, who was the convenor of the event, said that climate change is affecting all nations across the globe. "Since 1901, we have seen a steady rise in temperatures, and the past two years were some of the hottest ever recorded. Climate change has a direct impact on health and work conditions, and the conference is seen as a platform for discussion of the same," he said.