Linking global warning, metabolic rate of haematophagous vectors and the transmission of infectious diseases

ROLANDI, C. & SCHILMAN, P.E.

Frontiers in Physiology

Frontiers

Año: 2012 vol. 3 p. 1 - 3

1664-042X

The greenhouse effect is evidenced by rising environmental temperatures and proposed as a major driver of changes in biodiversity, distribution of species, modification in epidemiology and distribution of infectious diseases. Many of the worst epidemic diseases are transmitted by vectors that are haematophagous arthropods. Since ectotherms have great vulnerability to variation in environmental temperature, their basic physiological functions are influenced by them. Particularly there is much attention on the effects of increasing temperature on changes in the biogeography, biodiversity and shortening of life cycles, while the relation between metabolic rates, biting frequency and disease transmission rates, still remains quite unexplored. Warmer temperatures speed up biochemical reactions, which in turn bring an increase in metabolic and nutrient transformation rates. Consequently, it could be expected an increase on biting rate with a concomitant boost in the transmission of infectious diseases. This effect of temperature on vector’s metabolic rates should be taken into account when formulating mathematical models that predict disease transmission in a global climate change scenario.