Climate change,air pollution,and allergic respiratory diseases:a call to action for health professionals

Rising emissions of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have warmed the planet substantially and are also accompanied by poor air quality.The increased prevalence of allergic airway disease worldwide can be partially attributed to those global environmental changes.Climate change and air pollution pose adverse impacts on respiratory allergies,and that the mechanisms are complex and interactive.Adverse weather conditions,such as extreme temperatures,can act directly on the respiratory tract to induce allergic respiratory illnesses.Thunderstorms and floods can alter the production and distribution of aeroallergens while wildfires and dust storms increase air pollution,and therefore indirectly enhance health risks.Concentrations of particulate matter and ozone in the air have been projected to increase with climate warming and air stagnation,and the rising temperatures and CO2 increase pollen,molds,and spores,which escalate the risk of allergic respiratory diseases.The synergistic effects of extreme heat and aeroallergens intensify the toxic effect of air pollutants,which in turn augment the allergenicity of aeroallergens.With the Earth’s climate change,migration of humans and plants shift the living environments and allergens of susceptible people.Urban residents are exposed to multiple factors while children are sensitive to environmental exposure.Since climate change may pose many unexpected and persistent effects on allergic respiratory diseases,health professionals should advocate for effective mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize its respiratory health effects.

Frequency and distribution of neglected tropical diseases in Mozambique:a systematic review

Background:Neglected tropical diseases(NTDs)affect more than one billion people living in vulnerable conditions.In spite of initiatives recently contributing to fill NTDs gaps on national and local prevalence and distribution,more epidemiological data are still needed for effective control and elimination interventions.Main text:Mozambique is considered one of the countries with highest NTDs burden although available data is scarce.This study aims to conduct a systematic review on published available data about the burden and distribution of the different NTDs across Mozambique since January 1950 until December 2018.We identified manuscripts from electronic databases(Pubmed,EmBase and Global Health)and paper publications and grey literature from Mozambique Ministry of Health.Manuscripts fulfilling inclusion criteria were:crosssectional studies,ecological studies,cohorts,reports,systematic reviews,and narrative reviews capturing epidemiological information of endemic NTDs in Mozambique.Case-control studies,letters to editor,case reports and case series of imported cases were excluded.A total of 466 manuscripts were initially identified and 98 were finally included after the revision following PRISMA guidelines.Eleven NTDs were reported in Mozambique during the study span.Northern provinces(Nampula,Cabo Delgado,Niassa,Tete and Zambezia)and Maputo province had the higher number of NTDs detected.Every disease had their own report profile:while schistosomiasis have been continuously reported since 1952 until nowadays,onchocerciasis and cysticercosis last available data is from 2007 and Echinococcosis have never been evaluated in the country.Thus,both space and time gaps on NTDs epidemiology have been identified.Conclusions:This review assembles NTDs burden and distribution in Mozambique.Thus,contributes to the understanding of NTDs epidemiology in Mozambique and highlights knowledge gaps.Hence,the study provides key elements to progress towards the control and interruption of transmission of these diseases in the country.