Parasites in a Changing Climate: Emerging Challenges in the Epidemiology and Control of Vector-Borne Parasitic Diseases
Climate change is influencing the ecological factors that control the incidence and spread of parasitic diseases, posing additional issues for disease monitoring and preparedness within public health. This review highlights the link between climatic variation and vector-borne parasitic diseases by reviewing the recent literature on parasite ecology, vector biology, geographical distribution, modes of transmission, emergence of disease, population susceptibility, and methods of disease control. Special emphasis is placed on how temperature, precipitation, humidity, extreme climatic events, and environmental variations may affect parasite development, vector lifespan and reproduction, competence, host-vector interaction, and seasonal transmission cycles. Previously, it has been demonstrated that environmental changes caused by climatic factors may affect the ability of vectors and parasites to thrive in specific areas, alter transmission seasons, and cause changes in the geographic distribution of malaria, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis, schistosomiasis, and other parasitic diseases. The review also discusses the appearance of parasitic diseases in new geographical regions and the threats posed by them to children, pregnant women, displaced people, poor individuals, and those who lack access to healthcare services. The increased use of geographic information systems, remote sensing, ecological niche modeling, weather forecasting, and early warning systems presents possibilities for identifying changes in disease patterns and providing intervention. But inadequate surveillance systems, limited information about disease distribution, limited modeling tools and an inability to integrate climatic and epidemiologic information pose major hurdles. Overall, the literature suggests that the need for understanding parasite-vector-host interactions in varying environments is vital.
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