Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Climate Change, Societal Transitions and Changing Infectious Disease Burdens

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Changing Climates, Earth Systems and Society

Part of the book series: International Year of Planet Earth ((IYPE))

Abstract

Human health is directly and indirectly influenced by the effects of climate change – air and sea temperatures, rainfall and more frequent and severe climate extremes. These effects do not impact on human populations uniformly, however, and this chapter looks at the interplay between climate and the different lifestyles that follow societal transitions, from hunting and gathering, through agriculture, industrialisation and globalisation. We illustrate the importance of considering such lifestyle effects by focusing on infectious diseases as a case study of disease amplification with climate change. The range and intensity of gastrointestinal and vector-borne diseases are likely to be altered as a result of climate change, and communities with different lifestyles will be affected differently. It follows that situation and societal-specific recommendations for public health interventions will be required, with our framework as a potential basis for considering these differences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahern M, Kovats RS, Wilkinson P, Few R, Matthies F (2005) Global health impacts of floods: Epidemiological evidence. Epidemiol Rev 27:36–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alcamo IE (Ed) (2001) Fundamentals of Microbiology. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avila M, Said N, Ojcius DM (2008) The book reopened on infectious diseases. Microbes Infect 10(9):942–947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnes E (2005) Diseases and Human Evolution. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borkent A, Grimaldi D (2004) The earliest fossil mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae), in Mid-Cretaceous burmese amber. Ann Entomol Soc Am 97(5):882–888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burkholder KM, Thompson KL, Einstein ME, Applegate TJ, Patterson JA (2008) Influence of stressors on normal intestinal microbiota, intestinal morphology, and susceptibility to Salmonella enteritidis colonization in broilers. Poult Sci 87:1734–1741.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Colwell R (1996) Global climate change and infectious disease: The cholera paradigm. Science 274(5295):2025–2031.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Confalonieri U, Menne B, Akhtar R, Ebi KL, Hauengue M, Kovats RS, Revich B, Woodward A (2007) Human health. In ML Parry, OF Canziani, JP Palutikof, PJ van der Linden CE Hanson (Eds), Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability (pp. 391–431). Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costello A, Abbas M, Allen A, Ball S, Bell S, Bellamy R, Friel S, Groce N, Johnson A, Kett M, Lee M, Levy C, Maslin M, McCoy D, McGuire B, Montgomery H, Napier D, Pagel C, Patel J, Antonio J, de Oliveira P, Redclift N, Rees H, Rogger D, Scott J, Stephenson J, Twigg J, Wolff J, Patterson C (2009) Managing the health effects of climate change. Lancet 373(9676):1693–1733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curriero FC, Patz JA, Rose JB, Lele S (2001) The association between extreme precipitation and waterborne disease outbreaks in the United States, 1948–1994. Am J Public Health 91(8):1194–1199.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • D’Souza RM, Becker N, Hall G, Moodie KBA (2004) Does ambient temperature affect foodborne disease? Epidemiology 15(1):86–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisman D, Lim S, Wellenius GA, Johnson C, Britz P, Gaskins M, Maher J, Mittleman MA, Spain V, Haas C, Newbern C (2005) It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity: Wet weather increases legionellosis risk in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area. Am J Infect Dis 192:2066–2073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleury M, Charron DF, Holt JD, Allen OB, Maarouf AR (2006) A time series analysis of the relationship of ambient temperature and common bacterial enteric infections in two canadian provinces. Int J Biometeorol 50:385–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hales S, de Wet N, Maindonald J, Woodward A (2002) Potential effect of population and climate changes on global distribution of dengue fever: An empirical model. Lancet 360:830–834.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heymann DL (2008) Control of Communicable Diseases Manual. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoxie NJ, Davis JP, Vergeront JM, Nashold RD, Blair KA (1997) Cryptosporidiosis associated mortality following a massive waterborne outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Am J Public Health 87(12):2032–2035.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • IPCC (2007) Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers (p. 22). Valencia: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jardine A, Speldewinde P, Carver S, Weinstein P (2007) Dryland salinity and ecosystem distress syndrome: Human health implications. EcoHealth 4(1):10–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jardine A, Lindsay M, Johansen C, Cook A, Weinstein P (2008) The impact of dryland salinity on the population dynamics of vector mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) of Ross River virus in inland areas of south-west Western Australia. J Med Entomol 45(6):1011–1022.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ko AI, Reis MG, Dourado CMR, Johnson WD, L.W. Riley and Salvador Leptospirosis Study Group (1999) Urban epidemic of severe leptospirosis in brazil. Lancet 354:820–825.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kovats RS, Edwards S, J S, Hajat BG, Armstrong KL, Ebi B, Menne and The Collaborating Group (2004) The effect of temperature on food poisoning: A time-series analysis of salmonellosis in ten European countries. Epidemiol Infect 132:443–453.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lafferty KD (2009a) Calling for an ecological approach to studying climate change and infectious diseases. Ecology 90(4):932–933.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafferty KD (2009b) The ecology of climate change and infectious diseases. Ecology 90(4):888–900.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levett PN (2001) Leptospirosis. Clin Microbiol Rev 14(2):296–326.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipp EK, Huq A, Colwell RR (2002) Effects of global climate on infectious disease: The cholera model. Clin Microbiol Rev 15(4):757–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Low T (1999) Feral Future. Ringwood, VIC: Viking.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac Kenzie WR, Hoxie NJ, Proctor ME, Gradus MS, Blair KA, Peterson DE, Kazmierczak JJ, Addiss DG, Fox KR, Rose JB, Davis JP (1994) A massive outbreak in milwaukee of cryptosporidium infection transmitted through the public water supply. N Engl J Med 331(3):161–167.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maskey M, Shastri JS, Saraswathi K, Surpam R, Vaidya N (2006) Leptospirosis in Mumbai: Post-deluge outbreak 2005. Indian J Med Microbiol 24(4):337–338.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McMichael AJ, Woodruff RE, Whetton P, Hennessy K, Nicholls N, Hales S, Woodward A, Kjellstrom T (2003) Human Health and Climate Change in Oceania: A Risk Assessment 2002 (p. 128). Department of Health and Ageing. Canberra, ACT: Commonwealth of Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMichael AJ (2004) Environmental and social influences on emerging infectious diseases: Past, present and future. Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser B 359:1049–1058.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nichols G, Lane C, Asgari N, Verlander NQ, Charlett A (2009) Rainfall and outbreaks of drinking water related disease and in England and Wales. J Water Health 7(1):1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunn PD (2009) Vanished islands and Hidden Continents of the Pacific. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Sullivan L, Jardine A, Cook A, Weinstein P (2008) Deforestation, mosquitoes, and ancient rome: Lessons for today. BioScience 58(8):756–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patz JA, Campbell-Lendrum D, Holloway T, Foley JA (2005) Impact of regional climate change on human health. Nature 438(7066):310–317.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patz JA, Olson SH (2006) Climate change and health: Global to local influences on disease risk. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 100(5–6):535–549.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Patz JA, Olson SH, Uejio CK, Gibbs HK (2008) Disease emergence from global climate and land use change. Med Clin North Am 92(6):1473–1491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poinar G, Zavortink T, Pike T, Johnston P (2000) Paleoculicis minutus (Diptera: Culicidae) n. gen., n. sp., from Cretaceous Canadian amber, with a summary of described fossil mosquitoes. Acta Geol Hisp 35(1–2):119–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poinar G, Poinar R (2007) What Bugged the Dinosaurs? Insects, Disease and Death in the Cretaceous. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rostagno MH (2009) Can stress in farm animals increase food safety risk? Foodborne Pathog Dis 6(7):767–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz GM, Rawlings TK, Dobbs FC, Drake LA, Mullady T, Huq A, Colwell R (2000) Global spread of microorganisms by ships. Nature 408:49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Russell RC, Currie BJ, Lindsay MD, Mackenzie JS, Ritchie SA, Whelan PI (2009) Dengue and climate change in Australia: Predictions for the future should incorporate knowledge from the past. Med J Aust 190(5):265–268.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savige G, Dalais F, Wahlqvist M, Coveney J, Fallowfield H (2004) Food safety. In N Cromar, S Cameron, H Fallowfield (Eds), Environmental Health in Australia and New Zealand (pp. 229–250). Melbourne, VIC: Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Semenza JC, Menne B (2009) Climate change and infectious diseases in Europe. Lancet Infect Dis 9(6):365–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trevejo RT, Rigau-Perez JG, Ashford DA, McClure EM, Jarquin-Gonzalez C, Amador JJ, de los Reyes JO, Gonzalez A, Zaki SR, Shieh WJ, McLean RG, Nasci RS, Weyant RS, Bolin CA, Bragg SL, Perkins BA, Speigel RA (1998) Epidemic leptospirosis associated with pulmonary hemorrhage – Nicaragua, 1995. J Infect Dis 178:1457–1463.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Watts DM, Burke DS, Harrison BA, Whitmire RE, Nisalak A (1987) Effect of temperature on the vector efficiency of Aedes aegypti for Dengue 2 virus. Am J Trop Med Hyg 36(1):143–152.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein P, Cook A (2007) Epidemiological transitions and the changing face of medical geology. Ambio 36(1):67–69.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weinstein P, Goff J, Skelly C (2009) Do post-disaster public health interventions impede malaria eradication? Med Hypotheses. ePub Available online November 7, 2009. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2009.09.055.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss RA, McMichael AJ (2004) Social and environmental risk factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Nat Med 10(12):S70–S76.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation (2003) Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses – Summary. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zell R, Krumbholz A, Wutzler P (2008) Impact of global warming on viral diseases: What is the evidence? Curr Opin Biotechnol 19(6):652–660.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Emily Fearnley & Philip Weinstein

  2. Institute for Environmental Research, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Sydney, NSW, 2234, Australia

    John Dodson

Authors
  1. Emily Fearnley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Philip Weinstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John Dodson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily Fearnley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Technology Organisation, Div. Environment, Australian Nuclear Science &, Menai, 2234, New South Wales, Australia

    John Dodson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fearnley, E., Weinstein, P., Dodson, J. (2010). Climate Change, Societal Transitions and Changing Infectious Disease Burdens. In: Dodson, J. (eds) Changing Climates, Earth Systems and Society. International Year of Planet Earth. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8716-4_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation