氣候危機(jī)如何加速致命登革熱的全球傳播

氣候危機(jī)如何加速致命登革熱的全球傳播

Explosive outbreaks of dengue fever have rapidly spread in countries across Asia, killing more than 1,000 people, infecting hundreds of thousands and straining hospitals packed with sick families.

登革熱疫情在亞洲各國(guó)迅速蔓延，造成1000多人死亡，數(shù)十萬人感染，醫(yī)院擠滿了病人，已不堪重負(fù)。

Images from Bangladesh show patients in teeming hospital wards, lying beneath mosquito nets under lurid electric strip lights.

來自孟加拉國(guó)的圖片顯示，在擁擠的醫(yī)院病房里，病人們躺在刺眼的燈光照射下的蚊帳里。

Mothers cool their children with hand-held fans while others rest on hospital floors, holding drips, waiting for a free bed.

母親們用手持電風(fēng)扇給孩子降溫，而其他人則在醫(yī)院的地板上打點(diǎn)滴，等待免費(fèi)的床位。

This is the worst outbreak Bangladesh has ever seen. Five times as many people were infected in August than the whole of 2018, and so far this year 57 people have died.

這是孟加拉國(guó)有史以來最嚴(yán)重的疫情。8月份感染人數(shù)是2018年全年的5倍，今年迄今已有57人死亡。

It's a similar story across the region. Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam have all reported higher than normal cases of the disease and deaths compared to last year. And the Philippines has declared a national dengue epidemic -- 1,107 people have died there since the start of the year and more than 250,000 have been infected.

整個(gè)地區(qū)發(fā)生類似的情況。與去年相比，柬埔寨、老撾、馬來西亞、新加坡、斯里蘭卡、泰國(guó)和越南都報(bào)告了高于正常病例和死亡人數(shù)的病例。菲律賓已宣布登革熱為全國(guó)性流行病——自年初以來，已有1107人死亡，超過25萬人感染。

Dengue is a seasonal, mosquito-borne disease commonly found in hot, wet regions of the tropics and subtropics during the rainy months.

登革熱是一種季節(jié)性的蚊蟲傳播疾病，常見于炎熱潮濕的熱帶和亞熱帶地區(qū)的雨季。

The 'break-bone' fever and climate crisis

“骨折熱”和氣候危機(jī)

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the Aedes mosquito, the same insect responsible for spreading Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever. It causes flu-like symptoms, including piercing headaches, muscle and joint pains, fever and rashes, though only 25% of those infected show symptoms. Extreme cases can bring bleeding, shock, organ failure, and potentially death.

登革熱是一種由伊蚊傳播的病毒感染，伊蚊是傳播寨卡病毒、基孔肯雅熱和黃熱病的罪魁禍?zhǔn)住Ｋ鼤?huì)引起類似流感的癥狀，包括刺痛性頭痛、肌肉和關(guān)節(jié)痛、發(fā)燒和皮疹，但只有25%的感染者會(huì)出現(xiàn)癥狀。極端情況可能導(dǎo)致出血、休克、器官衰竭，甚至死亡。

It's the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world, increasing 30-fold in the past 50 years. While it was once found in only nine countries, today the disease is endemic in more than 100 -- putting more than half the world's population at risk, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

它是世界上傳播速度最快的蚊蟲傳播病毒疾病，在過去50年里增長(zhǎng)了30倍。世界衛(wèi)生組織(WHO)的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，雖然寨卡病毒曾經(jīng)只在9個(gè)國(guó)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，但如今它已在100多個(gè)國(guó)家流行，使全球一半以上的人口處于危險(xiǎn)之中。

There have been numerous studies on the link between climate change and mosquito-borne diseases and experts say the climate crisis is playing a major role in dengue's spread.

關(guān)于氣候變化與蚊蟲傳播疾病之間的關(guān)系，已有大量研究，專家表示，氣候危機(jī)在登革熱的傳播中發(fā)揮了重要作用。

Scientists have repeatedly warned that rising temperatures are triggering more extreme weather events, and a warmer, wetter world could put us at greater risk of vector-borne diseases -- those transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks or other organisms.

科學(xué)家們一再警告說，不斷上升的氣溫正在引發(fā)更多極端天氣事件，而一個(gè)更溫暖、更潮濕的世界可能會(huì)讓我們面臨更大的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，患上由蚊蟲、蜱蟲或其他生物體傳播的病媒傳播疾病。

Erratic weather makes it harder to predict outbreaks

不穩(wěn)定的天氣使得預(yù)測(cè)疫情更加困難

Since the start of the year, more than 7 million people have been displaced worldwide as a result of disasters such as flooding, cyclones, and droughts -- a phenomenon described by the researchers at Internal Displacement as becoming the norm.

自今年年初以來，全球已有700多萬人因洪水、颶風(fēng)和干旱等災(zāi)害而流離失所。研究人員稱，國(guó)內(nèi)流離失所現(xiàn)象已成為常態(tài)。

"Climate change is altering weather patterns across the globe. We're having less predictable extreme events," said Dr. Rachel Lowe of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“氣候變化正在改變?nèi)虻臍夂蚰Ｊ?。我們正在?jīng)歷難以預(yù)測(cè)的極端事件，”倫敦衛(wèi)生和熱帶醫(yī)學(xué)院的雷切爾·洛博士說。

Lowe said that these changing patterns can cause the dengue season to shift "making it harder to know when and where an epidemic might occur."

洛說，這些變化的模式可能導(dǎo)致登革熱發(fā)生季節(jié)性變化，“使人們更難知道疫情可能在何時(shí)何地發(fā)生”。

Modern lifestyles are also to blame

現(xiàn)代生活方式也是原因之一

But climate is just one factor in dengue's spread. We travel around a lot more than 50 years ago and it's not just souvenirs that we bring back from trips abroad.

但是氣候只是登革熱傳播的一個(gè)因素。50多年前，我們到處旅行，從國(guó)外旅行回來的不僅僅是紀(jì)念品。

"People are able to travel across the globe within a few hours and that certainly facilitates the spread of dengue and can allow the virus to establish in places where it wasn't before," Lowe said.

洛說:“人們可以在幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)環(huán)游世界，這肯定會(huì)促進(jìn)登革熱的傳播，并使病毒在以前沒有出現(xiàn)過的地方扎根。”