WHO Warns Climate Change Spurring Spike in Dengue, Chikungunya; 129 Countries at Risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Wednesday that dengue and different illnesses brought on by mosquito-borne arboviruses had been spreading far sooner and additional amid local weather change, warning international outbreaks could possibly be looming.

Experts with the United (*129*) well being company sounded the alarm over swelling numbers of instances of dengue and chikungunya, and warned new epidemics of zika is also anticipated.

All three are brought on by arboviruses carried by Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which have been spreading into new territory because the planet warms.

“Climate change has performed a key function in facilitating the unfold of the vector mosquitoes,” said Raman Velayudhan, who coordinates WHO’s dengue and arbovirus initiative.

He and colleague Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO’s technical lead on chikungunya and zika, stressed the need for urgent action to rein in the spread of the mosquitos, amid fears of larger outbreaks in new areas.

A full 129 nations are already at danger from dengue, together with 100 nations the place the illness is endemic.

And case numbers have grown exponentially in recent years, jumping from around half a million in 2000 to some 5.2 million in 2019, the worst year on record, Velayudhan told reporters.

Cases were not properly recorded during the Covid pandemic, but he warned that numbers remained high.

In parallel, chikungunya, which to date has been reported in 115 countries since it was discovered in the 1950, is experiencing a dramatic surge in the Americas, Rojas Alvarez told reporters.

So far this year, around 135,000 cases have been reported there, compared to 50,000 cases reported during the first half of 2022, she said.

– ‘Alarming’ –

Most concerning perhaps is the expanding geographic spread of both diseases, which are being reported further south in the Americas and are also moving into the northern hemisphere, including a number of European countries.

“The mosquitos and these diseases have with climate change been increasing … by altitude and by latitude,” Rojas Alvarez mentioned, describing the state of affairs as “alarming”.

“This high transmission (in the Americas) could be an anticipation of what the next summer season in the northern hemisphere might look like,” she warned.

The two illnesses typically trigger simply gentle signs like fever, physique ache and a rash.

But whereas most individuals who catch chikungunya expertise signs for a few week, a full 40 p.c will really feel the results for months and even years.

“It may cause lifelong incapacity,” Rojas Alvarez warned.

With dengue, which comes in four closely related serotypes, people who are reinfected with another serotype often develop severe disease.

This “can lead to organ failure and death”, Velayudhan warned, including that “this can be a large menace to the world, as a result of a lot of the nations now have all 4 serotypes in circulation.”

He called for countries to boost mosquito control and “be on the alert” to detect when the illnesses are spreading.

“We actually wish to keep away from any main outbreak.”

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