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氣候變化使數百種疾病變得更糟

氣候變化使數百種疾病變得更糟

熱浪、乾旱、洪水和風暴增加了病例數量,使疾病更加嚴重,並阻礙了人們的應對能力。

資料來源:新聞 / 2022 年 8 月 12 日 / 自然 / 財團法人台灣紅絲帶基金會

 

洪水,例如孟加拉國的這次洪水,會增加傳染病的風險和嚴重程度。Credit: Mamun Hossain/AFP/Getty

 

根據一項分析,氣候變化加劇了 200 多種傳染病和數十種非傳染性疾病,例如毒蛇咬傷。氣候災害使人和致病生物更加緊密地聯繫在一起,導致病例增加。全球變暖還會使某些情況變得更加嚴重,並影響人們抵抗感染的能力。

大多數關於氣候變化與疾病之間關係的研究都集中在特定的病原體、傳播方法或一種極端天氣的影響上。夏威夷大學馬諾阿分校的數據科學家卡米洛·莫拉(Camilo Mora)和他的同事在文獻中搜索了十種氣候變化引起的危害(包括氣溫驟升、海平面上升和乾旱)如何影響所有記錄在案的傳染病的證據(見「氣候危害加劇疾病」)。這些包括由細菌、病毒、動物、真菌和植物傳播或引發的感染(參見「傳播方式」)。該研究於 8 月 8 日發表在《自然氣候變化》上。

位於夏洛茨維爾的維吉尼亞大學醫學院之流行病學家喬什 . 科爾斯頓說:「在一篇論文中研究所有的氣候影響和所有傳染性病原體基本上是非常雄心勃勃的」。「他們很好地綜合了大量的信息」。

 

                     

                  

 

資料來源:參考文獻 1。

莫拉說,這項研究量化了氣候變化影響人類疾病的多種方式。「在我們的餘生中,我們將一直處於這種嚴重威脅傘覆蓋之下」,他補充道。

文獻綜述

Mora 和他的同事檢查了 77,000 多篇研究論文、報告和書籍,以獲取受氣候危害影響的傳染病的記錄,這些傳染病因溫室氣體排放而變得更糟。超過 90% 的相關論文是在 2000 年之後發表的。最終,團隊找到了 830 篇包含 3,213 個案例的出版物。

研究人員發現,在全球傳染病和流行病學網絡 (GIDEON) 和美國疾病控制與預防中心的國家法定傳染病監測系統中列出的 375 種傳染病中,氣候變化加重了 218 種,即 58%。如果包括非傳染性疾病,例如哮喘和毒蛇或昆蟲叮咬,總數上升到 277。該團隊還確定了九種因氣候變化而減少的疾病。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

資料來源:參考文獻 1。

莫拉說,許多研究檢查了傳染性疾病,因為這些疾病可以在人與人之間轉移,因此最令人恐懼。但是,隨著他和他的同事收集更多數據,他們發現了非傳染性疾病惡化的報告,例如由於全球變暖導致植物和真菌過敏原水平升高引起的哮喘爆發。 Mora 說,這些過敏原仍然是病原體——對人體造成傷害的生物病原。「但沒有人注意他們」。

該團隊還確定了氣候危害導致疾病病例的 1,006 種方式。其中許多涉及使病原體和人們更緊密地聯繫在一起。例如,溫度和降雨量的增加擴大了蚊子的範圍,並導致了登革熱、屈公熱和瘧疾的爆發。與此同時,熱浪吸引更多人從事與水有關的活動,導致腸胃炎等水傳播疾病病例增加。風暴、海平面上升和洪水迫使人們遷徙,並與拉薩熱、霍亂和傷寒的爆發有關。

氣候威脅也使一些病原體更具毒性或促進了它們的傳播。例如,高溫會提高攜帶西尼羅河病毒的蚊子的存活率和叮咬率。此外,這些危害透過精神壓力、免疫力下降和營養不良等因素削弱了人們應對感染的能力。

華盛頓特區喬治城大學的全球變化生物學家科林·卡爾森說:「他們把這個證據基礎放在一起真是令人難以置信」。但是,他指出,還有更多已知受氣候變化影響的疾病。氣候變化對疾病的影響比研究揭示的還要廣泛。例如,不斷變化的環境條件正在損害醫療保健的可及性、糧食安全和其他健康成果,這些超出了本文的範圍。 「氣候變化正在重塑全球健康的每一部分」,他說。

doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02167-z

參考文獻

1.Mora, C. 等人。《自然》氣候變遷。 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01426-1 (2022)。

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climate change is making hundreds of diseases much worse

Heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms push up the number of cases, make diseases more severe and hamper people’s ability to cope.

NEWS / 12 August 2022

 

Floods, such as this one in Bangladesh, can increase the risk and severity of infectious diseases.Credit: Mamun Hossain/AFP/Getty

Climate change has exacerbated more than 200 infectious diseases and dozens of non-transmissible conditions, such as poisonous-snake bites, according to an analysis1. Climate hazards bring people and disease-causing organisms closer together, leading to a rise in cases. Global warming can also make some conditions more severe and affect how well people fight off infections.

Most studies on the associations between climate change and disease have focused on specific pathogens, transmission methods or the effects of one type of extreme weather. Camilo Mora, a data scientist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and his colleagues scoured the literature for evidence of how ten climate-change-induced hazards — including surging temperatures, sea level rise and droughts — have affected all documented infectious diseases (see ‘Climate hazards exacerbate diseases’). These include infections spread or triggered by bacteria, viruses, animals, fungi and plants (see ‘Mode of transmission’). The study was published in Nature Climate Change on 8 August.

“Looking at basically all the climate effects and all the infectious pathogens in one paper is extremely ambitious,” says Josh Colston, an epidemiologist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville. “They synthesize a tremendous amount of information very well.”

 

Source: Ref 1.

The study quantifies the many ways in which climate change affects human diseases, says Mora. “We are going to be under the constant umbrella of this serious threat for the rest of our lives,” he adds.

Literature review

Mora and his colleagues examined more than 77,000 research papers, reports and books for records of infectious diseases influenced by climatic hazards that had been made worse by greenhouse-gas emissions. More than 90% of the relevant papers had been published after 2000. Ultimately, the team found 830 publications containing 3,213 case examples.

The researchers discovered that climate change has aggravated 218, or 58%, of the 375 infectious diseases listed in the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON), and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. The total rises to 277 when including non-transmissible conditions, such as asthma and poisonous-snake or insect bites. The team also identified nine diseases that are diminished by climate change.

 

Source: Ref 1.

Many studies examine transmissible diseases because the conditions can transfer between people and are, therefore, feared the most, says Mora. But, as he and his colleagues gathered more data, they found reports of worsening non-communicable illnesses, such as asthma outbreaks caused by increased levels of plant and fungal allergens because of global warming. Those allergens are still pathogens — biological agents that cause harm to the human body, says Mora. “But nobody’s paying attention to them.”

The team also identified 1,006 ways in which climatic hazards have led to cases of disease. Many of those involved bringing pathogens and people closer together. Increases in temperature and rainfall, for instance, have expanded the range of mosquitoes and contributed to outbreaks of dengue fever, chikungunya and malaria. At the same time, heatwaves draw more people to water-related activities, leading to a rise in cases of waterborne illnesses, such as gastroenteritis. Storms, sea level rise and floods force people to move and have been implicated in outbreaks of Lassa fever, cholera and typhoid fever.

Climate threats have also made some pathogens more virulent or boosted their transmission. For example, high temperatures increase the survival and biting rates of mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus. Furthermore, these hazards weaken people’s ability to cope with infections through factors such as mental stress, lowered immunity and malnutrition.

“It’s incredible to have this evidence base that they’ve put together,” says Colin Carlson, a global-change biologist at Georgetown University in Washington DC. But, he notes, there are even more diseases known to be influenced by climate change. And the effects of climate change on diseases are even broader than the study reveals. For instance, changing environmental conditions are harming health-care access, food security and other health outcomes, which are beyond the scope of the paper. “There is no part of global health that climate change isn’t reshaping,” he says.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02167-z

References

1.Mora, C. et al. Nature Clim. Change https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01426-1 (2022).

 

 

 

 

 

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