El Fenómeno del Niño y la prevalencia de enfermedades infecciosas: revisión

Abstract

Climate changes caused by the El Niño oscillation southern (ENSO) significantly influence human diseases, because they are related to anomalies in precipitation or periods of drought. The aims of this paper are: to evaluate the anomalies of the average sea surface temperature, to calculate the average sea surface temperature of the Niño and Niño 1+2 regions, to contextualize infectious pathologies according to their classification: viral, bacterial, parasitic and caused by fungi in the geographical areas or countries of the Region where they have been studied in the historical context (1982-1983; 1997-1998 and 2016-2017) periods of the ENSO considered strong. A bibliographic, descriptive, documentary, retrospective and cross-sectional review was carried out during the months of October 2023 to March 2024. Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) are higher than average, observed throughout the equatorial Pacific Ocean, with anomalies being greater in the central and central-eastern Pacific. For ENSO 2023-2024, in the Niño 4 region the last calculated values of the Niño index remained at a temperature of +1.4 °C, in the Niño 3,4 region it was +1.9, in the Niño -3 region it was +2.0 °C while in the Niño-1+2 regions it weakened to +1.0 °C. The highest incidence and prevalence of ENSO infection (1997-1998) in Ecuador stands out, accounting for an increase in 13 infectious pathologies. Attention must be paid and the links between the environment and the risk of infection must be better understood.