Thursday, February 21, 2013

How do urbanization and globalization affect dengue?

The mosquitoes most likely to spread dengue , the Aedes aegypti or the Aedes albopictus mosquito, breed in areas with standing water. Urbanization inevitably creates an ideal environment for mosquitoes to breed in. Construction of buildings and the daily activities of the people who live in the buildings interfere with water’s ability to drain from the environment (Gubler 2011).
MissYunia (Date Accessed: February 22, 2013) http://missyunia.blogspot.com/2012/07/urbanization.html

The picture below shows recent increases in dengue due to trends in urbanization and globalization
WHO (Date Accessed: February 22, 2013) http://www.who.int/csr/disease/dengue/impact/en/
Urbanization has had the greatest impact on the propagation of dengue fever throughout the world. Rapid urbanization as seen in the past few decades in regions in India, the Phillipines, and South America, has caused difficulties in maintaining proper sanitation and infrastructure. The past few decades has also seen a marked increase in the incidence of dengue fever in those regions (see figure one). Inadequate housing, poor waste management systems, and high population density all increase the likelihood that mosquitoes--and dengue fever--will thrive in those areas. Nonetheless, urban environments bring people closer together and therefore make it easier for a mosquito first, to become infected, and second, to feed on and therefore infect multiple people. 


Figure One: Shows cases of dengue fever in green. Fever appears to be controlled by advances in technology and medicine, but spreads out of control as rapid urbanization occurs.


NCBI (Date Accessed: February 22, 2013) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317603/bin/tmh-2011-S05-g003.jpg

Population density has long been thought to contribute to the spread of the disease.  The concept of urbanization implies a higher population density. Urban environments have had dengue problems, which could be linked to having a higher population density and poorer areas with inadequate water storage. But, a recent study suggests that rural areas might have a higher risk of dengue outbreaks (Science Daily 2011).  Lack of piped water in rural environments means mosquitoes have access to breeding grounds (PLOS 2011).

Figure Two: Map A shows the documented strains of dengue fever in 1970 then in 2011. Increase in population density and air travel has spread dengue fever.

NCBI (Date Accessed: February 22, 2013) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317603/bin/tmh-2011-S05-g008.jpg
Globalization and travel are synonymous with urbanization, and both contribute to the spread of dengue fever on an international level. Air travel can transport infected hosts, whether human or mosquito, from point A on one side of the planet to point B on the other side of the planet, which is very convenient for introducing disease to new populations. In addition, urbanization and travel bring large numbers of people in close proximity to mosquito populations and to each other, which enables the dengue virus to undergo constant mutation as it is passed from host to host. We can see the effects of air travel and crowding on disease mutation and propagation in figure two, which displays the different types of dengue fever present on the planet in 1970 then in 2011 (Gubler 2011).



WRSC (Date Accessed: February 22, 2013) http://www.wrsc.org/attach_image/global-warming-and-insect-desease
Because of increased urbanization and global warming, the number of mosquitoes is predicted to vastly increase, thus increasing the amount of dengue worldwide. The map above shows predictions, making it clear that other solutions must be found before the disease spreads so rapidly. 

Berg, NB. (2009) Dengue Fever Increased by Rapid Urbanization. Planetizen. (Accessed February 9, 2013)http://www.planetizen.com/node/40439

Gubler, GJD. (2011) Dengue, Urbanization and Globalization: The Unholy Trinity of the 21st Century. National Center for Bio Technology Information. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. (Accessed February 13, 2013)http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317603/ 

NCBI (2012) Urban Environmental Health Hazards and Health Equity. National Center for Biotechnology Advancement. (Accessed February 13, 2013) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ 

Rajadhyaksha, M. (2011) Population density not key to devolopment. (Date Accessed: February 21,2013.)http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-03/mumbai/30238017_1_density-world-population-population-data-sheet


ScienceDaily (2011) Rural Areas at Higher Risk of Dengue Fever Than Cities. ScienceDaily. (Date Accessed: February 21, 2013) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830193842.htm 













2 comments:

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