Arnold et al.1 recently drew our attention to the increased burden experienced by young children in the United States from acute gastroenteritis related to recreational water exposure. They highlight a substantial disease burden in this vulnerable population and conclude that this should inform future water quality guidelines designed to protect public health. If indeed these young children are to be protected in the future, I argue we must pay heed to the rising impact of our changing climate on water quality and infectious disease.
There is now very strong consensus that the earth’s climate is changing and that human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, are the primary cause.2,3 Climate model projections indicate trends for increasing global average temperatures (including sea water temperatures), greater climate variability, increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall and flooding, and rising sea levels.3
Conditions conducive to impaired water quality are likely to become more frequent with climate change.4 An increased frequency of heavy rainfall events in some areas will potentially result in increased runoff of nutrients from farmlands and storm water contamination of our waterways. Warming water temperatures have been shown to accelerate the growth of bacteria and other harmful organisms in water.4,5
Recent observations of climate and weather show that even small increases of temperature and precipitation changes can result in measurable impacts on levels of diarrheal disease burden.6 Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in its Fifth Assessment Report (2014) that climate change is likely to lead to an increased burden of diarrheal diseases as a result of increases in waterborne bacteria and viruses.3
As Arnold et al. indicate,1 young children are the most vulnerable to infectious disease from exposure to water of poor quality. Failure to invest in adaptations to climate change will therefore impact them most. Additionally, the effects of climate change will be nonuniform, depending on the geographic location and existing socioeconomic and disease control mechanisms.5,6 As a result, priority should be given to ensuring that surveillance and public health response systems to water quality are adaptable to changing risk conditions, and to developing effective early warning systems.5
REFERENCES
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