Role of air pollutants in dengue fever incidence: evidence from two southern cities in Taiwan

Is Pollution the Primary Driver of Infectious Syndemics?

Syndemics, the adverse interaction of two or more coterminous diseases or other negative health conditions, have probably existed since human settlement, plant and animal domestication, urbanization, and the growth of social inequality beginning about 10-12,000 years ago. These dramatic changes in human social evolution significantly increased opportunities for the spread of zoonotic infectious diseases in denser human communities with increased sanitation challenges. In light of a growing body of research that indicates that anthropogenic air pollution causes numerous threats to health and is taking a far greater toll on human life and wellbeing than had been reported, this paper proposes the possibility that air pollution is now the primary driver of infectious disease syndemics. In support of this assertion, this paper reviews the growth and health impacts of air pollution, the relationship of air pollution to the development and spread of infectious diseases, and reported cases of air pollution-driven infectious disease syndemics, and presents public health recommendations for leveraging the biosocial insight of syndemic theory in responding to infectious disease.

Integration of population-level data sources into an individual-level clinical prediction model for dengue virus test positivity

The differentiation of dengue virus (DENV) infection, a major cause of acute febrile illness in tropical regions, from other etiologies, may help prioritize laboratory testing and limit the inappropriate use of antibiotics. While traditional clinical prediction models focus on individual patient-level parameters, we hypothesize that for infectious diseases, population-level data sources may improve predictive ability. To create a clinical prediction model that integrates patient-extrinsic data for identifying DENV among febrile patients presenting to a hospital in Thailand, we fit random forest classifiers combining clinical data with climate and population-level epidemiologic data. In cross-validation, compared to a parsimonious model with the top clinical predictors, a model with the addition of climate data, reconstructed susceptibility estimates, force of infection estimates, and a recent case clustering metric significantly improved model performance.

The recent burden of dengue infection in Bangladesh: A serious public health issue

Dengue is a rapidly increasing vector-borne disease with a high burden in South and Southeast Asia. This article presents an overview of the current dengue situation in Bangladesh, highlighting the critical public health challenges caused by this infectious disease. Between January and September 2023, a total of 203406 people were infected, and 989 people died, with a case fatality rate of 0.49%. Of these, 96.1% of infections and 95.2% of deaths occurred between July and September. Both infection and mortality rates showed a significant and positive correlation with population density and air quality index. Other environmental and socioeconomic factors may influence the burden of dengue infection. These include temperature, rainfall, humidity, unplanned urbanization, and water storage and waste management practices. To reduce transmission and mortality rates, it is urgent to prioritize early treatment of dengue cases and take measures to address the risk factors associated with dengue infection in the country.