Spring Break 2008 - Exotic Vacations or Extreme Vaccinations?

 by Hayley Heintzelman

JMU Students, Spring Break is less than 13 weeks away and with the count-down ever decreasing it is of highest importance to decide where and how you will spend your spring break. Perhaps you will be in Australia exploring the outback or snorkeling through the Great Barrier Reef, or off the coast of Eastern Africa serving in a humanitarian service project. You might even chose to be in the Bahamas, Jamaica, Fiji, of even the Maldives soaking up the sun while relaxing with friends. However, before booking your plane tickets, it is important to know how the climate has changed in these small developing island states in the past few years as some may contain fatal vector and water-born disease caused by radically changing climate systems.

Due to vulnerability to sever climate changes, many small, developing island states maybe outrageously infested with deadly viruses that we may ingest or may be injected into our bodies with out us even knowing. Vector born (an indirect transmission of an infectious disease through a vector either rubbing against, or through biting into a person, such as sand flies, ticks and mosquitoes) disease and Water-born disease are the two most common forms of transmitted diseases found in small and tropical island states.⁴

These two forms of transmitted diseases represent many of the popularly heard about diseases that have plague most of southern Asia after the tsunami destroyed many islands in 2005. These diseases include: malaria, dengue, cholera, diarrhea disease, heat stress, skin diseases, acute respiratory infections, and asthma.⁴ Nearly all of these diseases can be grave and without proper medical attention can turn lethal. Unfortunately a majority of these small developing islands lack top notch medical systems as can be found in the United States. Prevention and knowledge of why these diseases are so prevalent in the smaller tropical islands is they key to surviving and returning from your exotic vacation diseases free.

Small Island states are particularly affected by severs climate changes partially due to the ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) ² phenomenon and to the changing drought and flood patters of the particular islands. These linked flood and drought patterns have serious agricultural repercussions on the islands and their water maintenance through both deterioration and quantity of water available to the citizens and their foreign tourists. The upkeep and maintenance of an islands water supply is costly and requires many recourses that most developing island states are not able to supply.³ Water- and vector-born diseases are able to multiply drastically as many island’s water supplies are left stagnant and attract countless known vectors such as mosquitoes which may be positive carriers of fatal diseases such as malaria and dengue. With temperature increasing climactically, it is very likely that the spread of these disease carrying vectors will also enlarge.

Global temperatures are expected to escalate from 1.4° up to 5.8°C before the end of this century. ² These higher temperatures are much more conducive to the traveling of water and vector-born diseases than that of cooler temperatures. These warmer temperatures are also a more suitable breeding ground for mosquitoes and other widespread vector-born disease carriers. Vector organisms also thrive in the warmer temperatures and are less likely to become depleted when living in places less than tropical therefore, it is completely reasonable that their locality in the small tropical islands is prevalent. Vectors will also thrive in warm precipitation; however, this is not true for food and food crops.

Precipitation and increasing temperature may also be inadvertently affecting agricultural sustenance of food and food crops made for internal domestic distribution as well as external international distribution. However, temperature has also been found to affect food-borne diseases. If temperatures are irregularly warm in small tropical islands, it is likely that domestic food industries will produce unsanitary, sometimes salmonella infected products that 30% of the time are caused by erratically high temperatures.² Food poisoning is also very commonly correlated with temperature. It is important to note when traveling if uncommonly high temperatures have been recorded in the past three to five weeks prior to your retreat as high temperatures up to a month prior may still affect the food you ingest on your break. ² However, in addition to climate changes, cultural practices such as waste management, poor public health practice, inadequate infrastructure, and changing climatic conditions are also huge factors in poor disease infestations either by water, food, or vector-born organisms.

As the climate induced health risks are predicted to double by 2030, neither this, nor mounting temperatures should discourage students at JMU from traveling or seeing the world. ² None the less, it is vital to be informed on the island area you are planning to travel to or work in. There are numerous ways to avoid health risks in small islands, some being researching the country and its preceding climate fluctuations, as prior heat waves severely increase a higher risk for food, water, and vector-born health diseases. Also many countries are implementing “early warning systems” ² which will allow travelers and citizens alike to be informed on potential ENSO/unexpected climatic changes. So whether you plan on being in South America or Eastern Africa for your Spring Break 2008, plan on being informed and aware of potentially fatal water or vector-born diseases in small tropical islands due to radically changing climate systems.

Bibliography:

1. Singh RBK, et al.(2001) The influence of climate variation and change on diarrhoeal disease in the Pacific Islands. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(2): 155-159.

2. Pratz, Jonathan A., et al. "Impact of regional climate on human health." SAGE Publications. 438.17 (November 2005).

3. Hay, JE, et al. "Small Island States." Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. 6 (2001).
   
   

4.     Corvalan, Carlos, Nancy D. Lewis, and Kristie L. Ebi. "Climate Variability and Change and Their Potential Health Effects in Small Island States: Information for Adaptation Planning in the Health Sector." Environmental Health Perspectives. 114.12 (December 2006).