Spread of Dengue Caused by Climate Change: Singapore Warns the World

The Southeast Asian city-state has already exceeded 11,000 cases of dengue before June started when its peak dengue season traditionally begins. 5,258 cases were reported in 2021. Experts warn that climate change might cause the rest of the world the same situation that Singapore is facing.

Dengue fever, severe headaches, and body aches are common flu-like symptoms. Breathing difficulties, bleeding, organ failure, and even death can occur in extreme cases.

Singapore in Emergency Phase

Desmond Tan, Minister for Home Affairs Singapore confirms the emergency phase during their neighborhood inspections for dengue mosquitos.

Experts say the outbreak in Singapore has been made worse by recent extreme weather that brought prolonged hot weather spells and thundery showers. This weather condition spread both the mosquitoes and the virus they carry, not only in Singapore but on the whole planet.

The World Health Organization (WHO) stated during their global dengue report in January 2022 that cases had increased by 30 fold in the last 50 years, making the disease endemic in more than 100 countries.

In 2019, there were a total of 5.2 million cases of dengue in the world, according to the WHO. Outbreaks across Asia during that year claimed thousands of lives.

With the peak season for dengue only just starting, medical experts and doctors like Clarence Yeo Sze Kin believe this year's number of cases may set a new high. Dengue fever is a difficult illness to treat, as Yeo points out, and more patients come in when the temperature gets hot and dry.

Although most dengue cases do not necessitate hospitalization or intensive care, some patients can develop severe dengue, which can lead to death, according to the ministry spokesperson. Tan reminds doctors to treat dengue fever cases properly and to keep a high level of clinical suspicion when seeing patients with fever.

Perfect Breeding Conditions

Ruklanthi de Alwis, a senior research fellow at the Duke-NUS Medical School and an expert in emerging infectious diseases, explained that Singapore's dengue surge is the result of several factors that include the recent warm, wet weather as well as a new dominant virus strain, CNN reports.

De Alwis added that climate change will most likely make things worse referencing predictive modeling studies that show global warming will eventually expand the geographical areas in which mosquitoes thrive due to climate change.

Winston Chow, a climate scientist from the College of Integrative Studies at Singapore Management University pointed out that dengue cannot be eradicated because the constant weather extremes create the perfect breeding conditions for mosquitoes.

Singapore's National Environmental Agency recognizes the serious dengue situation, citing recent warm, rainy, and humid weather as a big contributing factor to the surge.

As climate change worsens and the planet warms, mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya will likely spread even further, posing a greater threat to human health and well-being.