Talk:Climate change and infectious diseases

Date format
The article was initially created using an all-numeric format: YYYY-MM-DD. The first alphanumeric date appeared in oldid 959205790, in the form of DMY. Based on this, I'm adding a hatnote to use DMY dates. Regards --User:Ceyockey ( talk to me ) 01:40, 29 June 2020 (UTC)

Proposing removal of probably unrelated material
Dear fellow editors,

I would like to propose removal of the following paragraph (under the section on Dengue). Perhaps the paragraph belongs on Wikipedia somewhere, but it seems out of place here since the initiatives discussed do not relate to climate change. Will remove the paragraph in 10 days unless there are objections. Will be happy to discuss this. Feel free to share your thoughts and please be respectful. Thank you. Crisantom (talk) 01:03, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

"There are many ways, where nations have come together in order to combat dengue. For example, many scientists from Cuba and the United States have done advanced collaboration to expedite the progress of the mosquito-borne virus, dengue. Despite cultural differences, these two nations have set aside political conflicts in order to exchange vital information and ideas between scientists and the public. They launched the Havana symposium, which allowed Cuba and the U.S to discuss ways of controlling the virus and the transmission of dengue to the people. Together, they have done research on the properties of insecticides and mosquito repellents that are derived from plants and the effect of these properties on living cells. This information has been vital for finding ways to prevent dengue transmission. One example is Dengvaxia, which is a vaccine available for dengue prevention. However, it is only recommended for people who were already exposed to the dengue virus infection. Still, there are other forms of preventing the spread of dengue. Another form of prevention is using insect repellents, avoiding moisture build-up indoors and outdoors, and wearing protective clothing can prevent the spread of dengue. A step-by-step tutorial for prevention and protection against the spread of dengue is available online."

It has been 18 days and there has been no objection to the proposed edit. Will be removing the passage, pasted above to WP:Preserve. If anyone wishes to undelete the passage, they may do so by first opening a discussion and presenting justification for restoring the passage. Crisantom (talk) 00:22, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

Remove essay like tag
I am planning to remove the "essay like" tag as I don't think it's justified anymore. Are there any particular reasons why you, User:SamHolt6, tagged is as such? If yes, please give us pointers what kind of language you find problematic in this article. Thanks. EMsmile (talk) 23:51, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
 * feel free to remove the tag if you so choose - the article has been cleaned up extensively since I tagged it, and so a good case can be made for removing it. Some parts of the article (particularly under the "Emergence of new infectious diseases" subheading) could use further work (more footnotes, better compliance with WP:MOS:I and maybe WP:TONE), but these issues do not greatly reduce the readability of the article and so may not require tags. Best. SamHolt6 (talk) 16:57, 25 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks, SamHolt6. Have removed the tag now. I came across this article while discussing Covid and climate change here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Effects_of_climate_change_on_human_health#That_information_about_Covid . So probably will add some content on that soon. I agree we should also do some work along the lines you suggested (I hope to have time for it soon-ish). EMsmile (talk) 15:04, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

Culled content about climate change in general
I have culled this content from the dengue fever section as it wasn't specific about dengue fever but general stuff about climate change, which is already elsewhere, e.g. at climate change. Take a look in case anyone wants to rescue anything: There are other organizations that are preventing climate change and the spread of new viruses. For example, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) provides scientific evaluations based on climate change impact, adaption and alleviation options, and future risks. The information from IPPC is the most reliable source when it comes to climate change. IPPC reports are used as a foundation for policymaking. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) are other organizations that work toward mitigating climate change. UNEP works on seven different areas of climate change and is the leading international environmental authority. In addition, the seven areas that UNEP mainly focuses on are climate change, managing ecosystems, natural disasters and conflicts, environmental policies, chemicals, and wastes, monitor the financial output of environmental conditions, and the study of many environmental conditions. This organization is known for mitigating environmental conditions and trends at a global, regional, and national level. Also, they have created programs that help to fight against climate change such as REDD+ program (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation), Climate and Clean Air Coalition (Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants), and Climate Technology Centre and Network. WMO specifically monitors weather, climate, and water. WMO dedicates their time to bring international awareness and cooperation, pertaining to the earth’s atmosphere. This organization focuses on reducing the risk of disasters and provides vital information about meteorological, climatological, hydrological, and oceanographic activities. In 2014, a global foundational fund known as the Green Climate Fund was created. This fund focuses on underdeveloped countries, islands, and many African states, which have been affected the most due to climate change. Another fund is the Climate Investment Funds, which supports economies that are trying to minimize the use of carbon in order to prevent climate change. There are also support groups that are fighting for environmental causes. 350.org is a support group that fights against fossil fuel industries and the mining in various parts of Brazil. Another organization is the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, which is trying to develop solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. EMsmile (talk) 01:36, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Culled content about Ebola in general
Same applies to this content which I have culled for not saying anything about climate change and Ebola: Outbreaks such as Ebola are transnational threats. Viral diseases like Ebola, have no remorse for any border or country. It's a battle that no country can face alone. Global health diplomacy helps bring together the regulation of public health, law, foreign affairs, economics, and puts the limelight on negotiations that can help build and manage policies for global environmental health. In 2014, Cuba sent 461 doctors to West Africa to help combat the outbreak of Ebola. Cuba was one of the first countries that have supplied as many trained health professionals to the Ebola outbreak than any other nation. This kind of gesture helped form the start of some Ebola diplomacy between Cuba and the United States. Consequently, the World Health Organization (WHO) assembled an emergency convention with many health ministers from eleven countries to reveal an alliance to help fight the Ebola epidemic. The World Bank Group and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) declared aid money to help the epidemic and the World Food Programme helped distribute food for approximately one million people who were living in restricted areas. Other organizations have also provided aid in an attempt to control the spread of the Ebola disease. For instance, the humanitarian aid organization Médecins Sans Frontières also known as Doctors Without Borders became the prominent organization that was responding to the crisis by having many health centers in the area. Another non-governmental organization is the Samaritan's Purse who provided direct patient care and medical aid in Liberia. EMsmile (talk) 01:41, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Restructuring (Apr 2021)
I've done a bit of a restructuring exercise today, whereby I moved content from other articles to here. Mainly from Effects of climate change on human health but also from Effects of climate change on humans. In particular, I tried to bundle all the information on malaria and climate change here in this article. For that, I moved some content from Climate change in Africa. So far, this article has low view rates but I think the view rates will go up as the quality of the article goes up, and as it is being wikilinked from other Wikipedia articles. EMsmile (talk) 11:54, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Added Zika virus and moved content
I have added zika virus subtopic and moved the content of Ebola and newly added Zika virus from 'others'. Considering the flow and structure of the article expanding from Background to Diseases (malaria, dengue, tick-borne disease and Leishmaniasis), perhaps it is more fitting to have Ebola and Zika after Leishmaniasis. Regards, HannaJC (talk) 02:15, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

Images that enhance understanding of the topic
Throughout the article there is only one image present. I believe more images could be added to the article to to help enhance the understanding of the topic. Delbel4567 (talk) 21:11, 1 February 2023 (UTC) Delbel4567 (talk) 02:14, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Malaria
Health issues 202.1.186.13 (talk) 21:24, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

Comments by content expert
I came to this article today because I am working on the article effects of climate change on human health together with a content expert. Today I reached the section on infectious diseases which used an excerpt from the lead of this article. I am copying below some of her comments that I am currently addressing in the parent article of effects of climate change on human health:
 * About dengue in the lead: This does not capture the nuances. The evidence for dengue is that climate change is altering the geographic range and seasonality of the mosquito that can carry dengue. Because there are multiple drivers of transmission, it is easier to model and project changes in the geographic range / seasonality. This also is true for malaria and other vector borne diseases.
 * About dengue later in the lead: Again, this does not accurately reflect the state of scientific understanding. The evidence is around expanding the geographic range and seasonality.
 * Could add Zika virus, and chikungunya
 * What is the evidence that West Nile can result in birth defects? A crisis is more likely to be triggered by diseases carried by Aedes mosquitoes, particularly yellow fever. EMsmile (talk) 10:47, 27 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I've made all the requested changes now. EMsmile (talk) 09:26, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

Merge article on waterborne diseases and CC to here
I am proposing that the article waterborne disease and climate change is moved to here. I can see quite a bit of overlap between the two articles and they are both small and with low pageviews. I think we are better off if we combined them into one. I'll add the merger tags now. EMsmile (talk) 11:08, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Pinging three people who might have an interest to comment: User:FeydHuxtable, User:InformationToKnowledge, User:Clayoquot. EMsmile (talk) 11:23, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I've just realised now that the article so far does not even mention waterborne diseases (malaria is not classified as one). There is content available in Chapter 7 of the AR 6 WG II report which can be used for this article. It says there "Important waterborne diseases (WBDs) include diarrhoeal diseases (such as cholera, shigella, cryptosporidiosis and typhoid), schistosomiasis, leptospirosis, hepatitis A and E and poliomyelitis". Look for the abbreviation WBD to find the relevant content. E.g. page 7 states: "Increase in the occurrence and intensity of WBDs such as Vibrios (particularly V. cholerae), diarrhoeal diseases and other waterborne GI illnesses" EMsmile (talk) 11:48, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I absolutely support this merge! In fact, I was already thinking of doing it myself. The only caveat I could think of here is that some waterborne diseases whose spread will be affected by CC may not be considered infectious, but even if there are such examples, it would be an argument for renaming this article (from infectious to communicable?), rather than avoiding the merge. InformationToKnowledge (talk) 12:10, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi, so nice to get such a quick reply from you! It's lovely to know that we really are a community of editors here, even if it's a small one. Makes it feel less lonely. I can't think of a waterborne disease that is not infectious? And I think communicable and infectious is the same thing (at least according to our Wikipedia article infection). Do you have one in mine that would be waterborne but not infectious? When I look at Waterborne diseases, I can't think of any waterborne disease that is not infectious. EMsmile (talk) 12:41, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I was thinking that the term "infectious" would be limited to diseases where microorganisms are involved, and parasitic diseases like schistosomiasis would not count, but it seems like I was mistaken. InformationToKnowledge (talk) 13:56, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes good idea as they are reasonable sizes to merge Chidgk1 (talk) 18:09, 10 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you both for your inputs. I've completed the merger now. EMsmile (talk) 07:49, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

Inconsistent notability criteria?
Hi @EMsmile, I noticed that you were very busy reorganizing this article yesterday. While it's apparently still not in our top 1000 most-viewed articles, for whatever reason, it remains an important subject to cover, and the article is certainly looking a lot better now: I am particularly glad it's not unending blocks of text anymore, and finally has images of anything besides mosquitoes! There's still a lot of room for improvement, with a large stretch of image-free text between tick-borne disease and livestock, and no image demonstrating an explicit connection to climate change on its own, but it's definitely a major step in the right direction.

However, I am confused about some of the choices about which content is to keep and which to remove. I.e. I saw that after the page on waterborne diseases was merged here, the sections on Nontuberculous mycobacteria and Legionella were then removed anyway, for being "speculative": the main supporting evidence provided in the edit reason being their omission in the relevant chapter of AR6. Making AR6 the sole arbiter of WP:N seems like a sudden jump in strictness of requirements, and seems inconsistent with a lot of other articles on the subject. I am also not sure if the COVID-19 section would pass muster then: while the pandemic does get a whole cross-chapter box, it's overwhelmingly about the impacts on society and mitigation/adaptation, rather than the role of climate in spread, let alone emergence.

Further, just a brief search has already found what appear to be WP:RS for the role of climate change in the spread of both of those diseases. I.e here, or here or here or here. With legionella, I have actually found an article from the WHO itself specifically arguing against the IPCC's decision not to include it in the AR5. Altogether, it seems to me that these references alone should be more than sufficient to re-include those sections in an expanded state? InformationToKnowledge (talk) 09:08, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
 * My edits summary on those removals was overly brief. It seemed to me that the references used so far were not highly reliable source (in the Wikipedia sense), and not secondary sources (which would have been a preference). For medical content the "bar" for sources is higher than for non-medical content, see WP:MEDRS (whether this content strictly is "medical content" could be debated as some of it is more about where vectors are moving to and why). But yes, if you have found reliable sources on those two or other diseases, do put it back in. I'll copy below the content that I had removed for your reference. EMsmile (talk) 09:20, 13 October 2023 (UTC)
 * This was the content about Nontuberculous mycobacteria that I had removed with the following reasoning: " this is very indirect / speculative. Not covered in the ref provided, not included in IPCC Chapter 7: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter07.pdf"

+++++++ Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a lung disease that mainly affects people with an underlying lung disease or a weakened immune system. The organisms that cause NTM are commonly found in soil and water. Currently in the United States there are more than 86,000 people infected with NTM. Climate change causes an increase in natural disasters which cause a spread of the NTM pathogen. In the United States, states with a higher occurrence of natural disasters also show a higher prevalence of NTM infections. One study done looked at the prevalence of NTM in the United States in the years following Hurricanes IKE, Katrina, and Rita. The study found the highest prevalence of NTM occurred in places most affected by the hurricanes. +++++++++

And this was the content about Legionalla that I had removed with the following reasoning: "seems speculative to me, poorly sourced. Not mentioned at all in IPCC Chapter 7: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGII_Chapter07.pdf"

+++++ Legionella infections have flu-like symptoms and can sometimes lead to pneumonia. It is found in water and some potting soils. Legionella is commonly transmitted through inhaling contaminated aerosols, commonly from water sprays, jets, or mists. It can also occur from aspiration of contaminate water. Legionella is known to show a seasonal pattern with a peak during the warm months in temperate regions. With climate change expected to continue to increase the global temperature average some locations will stay warm longer. This could lead to more exposure as the gardening season expands causing more exposure to potting soils and water sprayers. Longer hotter summers could also lead to an increase in the use of cooling systems, such as cooling towers. These are known as hotspots for legionella outbreaks. ++++++++++ EMsmile (talk) 11:19, 13 October 2023 (UTC)


 * Furthermore, you have to keep in mind WP:DUE when you decide how much space you want to give to describing each individual disease. I think it is probably more important to beef up the sections on "pathways" and "responses" rather than provide endless detail about individual diseases. The list could get very very long as there are many diseases transmitted by invertebrates or insects in particular, see for example List of diseases spread by invertebrates and List of insect-borne diseases. Pretty much all of them would be affected in one way or another, right?
 * Also, shouldn't such climate change info rather (or in addition) be included in the individual disease articles? I checked it for a few and it's usually not (yet?) included. Some already have some information on climate change (often written in a U.S. centric way, see e.g. Legionella), others have none, e.g. zika fever. Even the main article on infection does not say much about climate change. The article on malaria does mention climate change but says the correlation is not clear (I've asked on the talk page about that). So, as usually, there is lots to do here to tidy it all up. EMsmile (talk) 11:29, 13 October 2023 (UTC)