The impact of rainfall and temperature variation on diarrheal prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa

Temperature as a risk factor for hospitalisations among young children in the Mekong Delta area, Vietnam

“…For GI infection, daily admission for diarrhoea increased significantly among Peruvian children less than 10 years of age during the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, and it was found that an 8% increase in the risk of severe childhood diarrhoea was significantly associated with every 1°C increase in temperature 39. A study in sub-Saharan Africa revealed that an increase in monthly maximum temperature caused significant increases in the prevalence of diarrhoea among children under 3 years of age 40. Likewise, Lee et al 41 found that there was a strong positive relationship between the incidence of rotavirus gastroenteritis among children under 5 years of age in Taiwan and monthly temperature variation.…”

Climate Change Impacts on Human Health

“…For example, cholera outbreaks caused by toxigenic Vibrio cholerae have been consistently shown to be correlated with excessive rainfall, flooding, and high temperatures in the epidemic areas of West Africa and Bangladesh (Mhalu et al 1987;Hashizume et al 2008;Luque Fernandez et al 2009;Ngwa et al 2016), although the exact mechanistic relationships that result in this correlation remain elusive (Colwell et al 1998). Significant (positive) relationships have been reported between excessive rainfall and/or high temperatures and diarrhea in the Pacific Islands (Singh et al 2001), Ecuador (Carlton et al 2014), and Sub-Saharan Africa (Bandyopadhyay et al 2012), while evidence also suggests that low rainfall and even drought can also be associated with diarrhea, as reported in Bangladesh (Hashizume et al 2008) and Denmark (Senhorst and Zwolsman 2005).…”

“…frequent very hot days and possibly fewer very cold days), have a direct impact on human health by compromising the body's ability to regulate its internal temperature. Increased human morbidity and mortality have been associated with extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, and documented in both developing and developed countries worldwide (Center for Disease Control and Prevention 1994; Keatinge et al 2000a;Keatinge et al 2000b;Basu and Samet 2002;Medina-Ramon et al 2006;Kovats and Hajat 2008;Bandyopadhyay et al 2012). The mechanistic effects of extreme temperature on death and illness are briefly summarized below ):…”

Climate change, public health and COP21 – a South African perspective

“…Diarrhoeal infections were linked in one study to anomalously dry seasons and increases in monthly average maximum temperatures in sub-Saharan Africa. [6] Malaria in Limpopo is more significantly associated with temperature than rainfall, [7] and models suggest a possible expansion in malaria zones in Africa, including SA in the future. [8] Schistosoma worms, the cause of schistosomiasis (including bilharzia), may thrive in warmer water and emergent transmission in previously unaffected areas may occur.…”