Climate change-driven infectious diseases: A global health perspective
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Climate change is recognized as a significant driver of global health due to its impact on the dynamics of infectious illnesses. Rising temperatures, fluctuating precipitation patterns, harsh weather, and changing ecological systems all have an impact on the distribution, spread, and severity of vector-borne, water-borne, airborne, and zoonotic illnesses. In order to investigate the connection between climate change and the emergence, spread, and geographic distribution of infectious diseases, this review synthesizes recent scientific literature, including peer-reviewed articles, books, global surveillance reports, and climate-health assessments. Extensive searches across several databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Springer Nature, were used to gather the most relevant data from the timeline between 1995 and 2025. The reviewed evidence indicates that rising global temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and ecosystem disruptions are significantly influencing infectious disease dynamics. Climate change has expanded the geographic range and seasonal activity of vectors such as mosquitoes and ticks, contributing to the resurgence and spread of diseases including dengue, malaria, influenza, Lyme disease, and Zika virus infection. The development of successful preventative initiatives should consider this issue seriously. This review highlights the infectious diseases impacted by climate variability and discusses the pathway, emergent risks, global epidemiological patterns, future directions, and public health implications.
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7165052644
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: