ORLANDO – “Expect the unexpected” when considering the health impacts of climate change on children, Susan Pacheo, MD, advised in her presentation at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Jeff Craven/MDedge News
Dr. Susan Pacheo
“We don’t know what we’re going to see, and we need to be ready,” said Dr. Pacheo of the University of Texas, Houston.
Climate change is categorized by an increase in droughts, fires, storms, floods, mudslides, and extreme temperatures. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the impacts of climate change on human health are multiple, but can include an increased rate of infectious disease, respiratory conditions, injury, cardiovascular-related health issues, malnutrition, and mental health problems.
These problems can especially target children, Dr. Pacheo noted. “Kids are vulnerable. You’ve heard this, you’ve experienced this, you see this every day in your pediatric population.”
Children are more vulnerable because of the increased exposure they have to the environment. They spend more time outdoors, they are closer to the ground, and they are likely to put objects in their mouth. Children also tend to swallow more water when swimming, compared with adults. A 2014 study by de Man et al. found that children exposed to storm sewers and combined sewers swallowed 1.7 mL of water per exposure event and that the risk of infection from pathogens such as noroviruses, enteroviruses, Campylobacter jejuni, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia was 23%-33% per event, compared with 0.016 mL of water per exposure in adults and a mean infection risk of 0.58%-3.90% per event (Water Research. 2014 Jan 1. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2013.09.022).
In addition, socioeconomic status and built environment as well as a child’s immature lung development and higher respiratory rate can lead to children being impacted by factors such as air pollution. Poverty, access to medical care, and the structure and dynamics of family also can affect children.
“We need to do something because this is a problem of social justice and we, as pediatricians, are advocates of the vulnerable,” Dr. Pacheo said.
Cade Martin, Dawn Arlotta, USCDC
Expect to see an increase in the number of vector-borne, airborne, and pollution-related disease, as well as water- and food-borne diseases, as a result of climate change, in addition to other issues such as hand, foot, and mouth disease and antibiotic resistance, she noted. As historically colder parts of the world continue to have milder winters, disease-carrying insects such as ticks and mosquitoes will expand their habitats and transmission of diseases such as Zika virus, malaria, dengue fever, and chikungunya will increase.
Leptospirosis and Naegleria fowleri, the latter which can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis, are also becoming more common. Food-borne illnesses like vibriosis are being seen in more northern areas of the world like Alaska, and ciguatera fish poisoning is expected to be more prevalent in the southeastern United States and Gulf of Mexico, Dr. Pacheo said.
Air pollution carries a risk of respiratory diseases, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis, with a 2017 systematic review by Nhung et al. finding increased exposure to ambient air pollution markers such as sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide was associated with pneumonia in children (Environ Pollut. 2017 Jul 25. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.07.063). Coccidioidomycosis, or valley fever, is caused by inhaling a fungus in the soil and is associated with dust storms primarily in the southwestern United States. Warmer temperatures also have caused toxic algae blooms that have killed marine life and caused respiratory distress; children should not go near or play in water when algae blooms are growing, she noted.
Recent studies have linked an increase in temperature with incidence of Escherichia coli, with a 2016 study by Philipsborn et al. showing a 1° Celsius increase in mean monthly temperature was associated with an 8% increase in incidence of diarrheagenic E. coli (J Infect Dis. 2016 Feb 29. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw081). The incidence of hand, foot, and mouth disease also is linked to temperature and humidity, with a 2018 study by Cheng et al. showing a 1° Celsius increase in temperature and humidity was significantly associated with hand, foot, and mouth disease (Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jan 12. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.006). Rates of influenza are controlled by the changing environment as well, and increasing the number of vaccinations will help lower the number of influenza cases.
“We need to be advocates, we need to educate ourselves like we’re doing now so that we can educate our patients and to create a plan for preparedness,” Dr. Pacheo said.
She reported no relevant conflicts of interest.