AI Article Synopsis
- Climate change and extreme weather events are suspected to increase the spread of Campylobacter, a major cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, but the specific effects on these infections have not been thoroughly studied.
- The literature review analyzed peer-reviewed articles published until September 2022, focusing on how various weather factors (like precipitation, temperature, and humidity) influence Campylobacter infections in humans, ultimately synthesizing findings from 47 relevant studies.
- Results indicate that higher precipitation and temperature correlate with increased infections, while low humidity and sunshine have the opposite effect; however, many studies didn't fully consider other influencing factors such as seasonality and animal operations.
Article Abstract
Background: Previous work has found climate change-induced weather variability is suspected to increase the transmission of enteric pathogens, including Campylobacter, a leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis. While the relationship between extreme weather events and diarrheal diseases has been documented, the specific impact on Campylobacter infections remains underexplored.
Objective: To synthesize the peer-reviewed literature exploring the effect of weather variability on Campylobacter infections in humans.
Methods: The review included English language, peer-reviewed articles, published up to September 1, 2022 in PubMed, Embase, GEOBASE, Agriculture and Environmental Science Database, and CABI Global Health exploring the effect of an antecedent weather event on human enteric illness caused by Campylobacter (PROSPERO Protocol # 351884). We extracted study information including data sources, methods, summary measures, and effect sizes. Quality and weight of evidence reported was summarized and bias assessed for each article.
Results: After screening 278 articles, 47 articles (34 studies, 13 outbreak reports) were included in the evidence synthesis. Antecedent weather events included precipitation (n = 35), temperature (n = 30), relative humidity (n = 7), sunshine (n = 6), and El Niño and La Niña (n = 3). Reviewed studies demonstrated that increases in precipitation and temperature were correlated with Campylobacter infections under specific conditions, whereas low relative humidity and sunshine were negatively correlated. Articles estimating the effect of animal operations (n = 15) found presence and density of animal operations were significantly associated with infections. However, most of the included articles did not assess confounding by seasonality, presence of animal operations, or describe estimates of risk.
Discussion: This review explores what is known about the influence of weather events on Campylobacter and identifies previously underreported negative associations between low relative humidity and sunshine on Campylobacter infections. Future research should explore pathogen-specific estimates of risk, which can be used to influence public health strategies, improve source attribution and causal pathways, and project disease burden due to climate change.
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Source |
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.118796 | DOI Listing |
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