Interrelation between Climate and Dengue in Malaysia

Bryan Paul^1,2,3*, Wai Liang Tham⁴

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
³Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
³Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
⁴Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2015.76080                

Abstract

Dengue cases in Malaysia are on the rise and have worsened since last decade, and this has generally been attributed to human actions. However, the effects of climate in this situation have been under-mentioned. We argue that climate also plays a role in spreading dengue transmission and multiple studies have shown that climate and transmission of infectious diseases are closely interconnected. Our evaluation examines how local climate influences dengue transmission by studying two parameters, specifically local average surface temperature and average precipitation, and we assume that a changing climate will influence the number of reported dengue cases and mortality rates. We also study the potential impact of climate change on the transmission of dengue and its distribution over a large geographical region, and have found that dengue and infectious diseases in general tend to be widespread in regions with higher or increasing surface temperature.

Keywords

Climate, Dengue, Malaysia

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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