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Climate change responsible for outbreak of infectious diseases in India
12/Oct/2006: Experts say that outbreak of infectious diseases like dengue, chikungunya and encephalitis (inflammation of the brain caused viral infection) in India, are directly linked to global warming and climate change, which are creating favorable conditions for mosquitoes to breed and flourish.
VP Sharma, former director of the Malaria Research Center in India, said that warmer weather and higher humidity helps vectors like mosquitoes to breed and thrive. Various studies carried out in the recent past have confirmed that climate change is directly linked to the increase in vector-borne diseases in India.
Sunita Narain, an environmentalist, said that irregular weather patterns and rainfall, induced by global warming, is increasing the incidence of infectious diseases, as predicted by scientists. However, she added that the met department refuses to recognize this link and hence are not able to predict the outbreaks.
She feels that infectious diseases like dengue and chikungunya can be controlled only through environment management. According to Narain, clearing the breeding sites of mosquitoes and other vectors is more effective than the use of chemicals and pesticides, to control such diseases.
The current outbreak of dengue and chikungunya in India could be attributed to the general rise in temperatures and changing weather patterns. Mosquitoes cannot breed in cold weather and the current changes in weather patterns and temperatures have created an ideal environment for them to breed and flourish and an increase in their numbers translates in to an increase in vector-borne diseases.
Chikungunya has claimed over a hundred lives across India and infected more than 1.3 million people. Dengue on the other hand has claimed nearly 85 lives and infected more than 6,000 people in many states, across the country.
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