One of the lesser known (but no less fearful) indirect effects of
climate warming is represented by the spread of the so-called
arboviruses (Arthropod-Borne virus), i.e. viral infections transmitted
by the bite of arthropod vectors (mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies). Some
names are certainly known even to the layman: dengue, yellow fever,
malaria (technically not arbovirus, as it is not a virus but a
parasite). Other viruses will probably sound new: Chikungunya, West
Nile, Zika, Usutu, Toscana, just to name the few subjected to special
surveillance in Italy.
A large body of literature now agrees that climate change is a major
cause in the spread of arthropod vectors and related pathologies. In
particular, the increase in temperatures, irregular rainfall and the
impoverishment or destruction of entire ecosystems are creating
increasingly favorable habitats for these vectors, expanding their
geographical areas and increasing the risk of transmission of
arboviruses to new populations. . Obviously, the continuous maritime
transport, travel and migratory phenomena complete the picture.
These are infections that often occur with non-specific symptoms (fever,
arthralgia, headache, skin rashes), but which in the most fragile
subjects (elderly and immunosuppressed) can evolve into encephalitis,
given the propensity of these viruses for the nervous system. Other
viruses, as in the case of yellow fever, endemic in Africa and South
America, cause serious bleeding problems with high mortality rates.
There are no specific treatments other than supporting vital functions
throughout the course of the disease. From this we understand how the
danger of these infections is closely connected to the quality of care
that can be provided. Moreover, it is nothing new that infectious
diseases reflect economic and social disparities more than others.
Are we talking about a dystopian future? Far from it. Let's take the
case of Chikungunya. Since 2004, epidemics have been constantly
increasing on all continents. In 2007 the first indigenous virus
epidemic occurred in Europe, among other things in Italy (Emilia
Romagna). A second epidemic affected Lazio and Calabria in 2017. Or
again, think of the West Nile virus, which from the region of Uganda of
the same name has now become endemic on all continents.
One of the main causes of this expansion of arbovirosis is the now very
common Aedes albopictus, otherwise known as the tiger mosquito. It may
seem strange, but before the 1990s it did not exist in Italy, while now
it has a ubiquitous and uncontrollable diffusion. The tiger mosquito is
a cousin of the much more fearsome Aedes aegypti, the main vector of
dengue and yellow fever, and shares with it the same ability to carry
most arboviurs, although with less effectiveness. But with the trend of
progressive tropicalization of the climate, it is not excluded that A.
aegypti itself may soon appear in Southern Europe. I also remember that
the even more infamous Anopheles mosquito, vector of malaria, is still
present in Italy, a disease eradicated in the 1970s but always ready to
resettle.
The real risk is therefore that of seeing the spread of devastating
pathologies that for decades we thought could remain safely confined to
those areas of the planet that we ourselves had plundered and
impoverished; or to see the reappearance of pathologies that we hoped to
have relegated to the "wretched of the earth" or that we believed were
no longer compatible with our (un)civilized world, such as malaria.
But we had done the calculations wrong. Like, or perhaps even more than,
Covid, arbovirosis brings to light the critical issues of an
increasingly unsustainable capitalist model. In fact, if with Covid,
conveyed by human-to-human contact, we understood the limits of a
mobility passed off as "without limits", with arbovirosis we concretely
see the effects of large-scale environmental devastation. Again, like
and more than Covid, the spread of arbovirosis reflects the climatic
injustice of the Capitalocene, being a phenomenon whose effects will
fall most heavily on the less wealthy areas of the planet and on the
most disadvantaged populations. In fact, if the most pessimistic
forecasts speak of a dengue epidemic in the UK by 2100, it is certain
that the areas that will pay the price the most are the Mediterranean
basin (which is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the planet)
and the South America. The scientific literature, produced and published
almost entirely in Western countries, focuses more on the risks
associated with the passage of infections from the South to the global
North. But we must not forget that the highest price will always be paid
by those populations who already live endemically with these
pathologies, namely Africa and South America. Wanting to give in to
apocalyptic predictions, the future seems to be polarized in a vast
humanity increasingly tormented by climate catastrophes and diseases,
which will be macabrely counterbalanced by "a tenth of privileged people
barricaded in Canada or Northern Europe to defend their 10 or 20 degrees
lower of livability" (E. Braga, 2023).
The strategies implemented to combat arboviruses reflect the same
lukewarm and blunt approach that we have towards climate change. That
is, mitigate, contain. However, with very modest results. If we consider
that today only a few centers in Italy offer the possibility of carrying
out diagnostic tests, we realize how the problem is largely
underestimated. But the winning strategy cannot pass through these
measures - which are indispensable - but rather through the attempt to
reverse (or subvert) the capitalist gear. Which would mean abandoning
fossil fuels, stopping deforestation and rebuilding ecosystems.
Riccardo Ricceri
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
climate warming is represented by the spread of the so-called
arboviruses (Arthropod-Borne virus), i.e. viral infections transmitted
by the bite of arthropod vectors (mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies). Some
names are certainly known even to the layman: dengue, yellow fever,
malaria (technically not arbovirus, as it is not a virus but a
parasite). Other viruses will probably sound new: Chikungunya, West
Nile, Zika, Usutu, Toscana, just to name the few subjected to special
surveillance in Italy.
A large body of literature now agrees that climate change is a major
cause in the spread of arthropod vectors and related pathologies. In
particular, the increase in temperatures, irregular rainfall and the
impoverishment or destruction of entire ecosystems are creating
increasingly favorable habitats for these vectors, expanding their
geographical areas and increasing the risk of transmission of
arboviruses to new populations. . Obviously, the continuous maritime
transport, travel and migratory phenomena complete the picture.
These are infections that often occur with non-specific symptoms (fever,
arthralgia, headache, skin rashes), but which in the most fragile
subjects (elderly and immunosuppressed) can evolve into encephalitis,
given the propensity of these viruses for the nervous system. Other
viruses, as in the case of yellow fever, endemic in Africa and South
America, cause serious bleeding problems with high mortality rates.
There are no specific treatments other than supporting vital functions
throughout the course of the disease. From this we understand how the
danger of these infections is closely connected to the quality of care
that can be provided. Moreover, it is nothing new that infectious
diseases reflect economic and social disparities more than others.
Are we talking about a dystopian future? Far from it. Let's take the
case of Chikungunya. Since 2004, epidemics have been constantly
increasing on all continents. In 2007 the first indigenous virus
epidemic occurred in Europe, among other things in Italy (Emilia
Romagna). A second epidemic affected Lazio and Calabria in 2017. Or
again, think of the West Nile virus, which from the region of Uganda of
the same name has now become endemic on all continents.
One of the main causes of this expansion of arbovirosis is the now very
common Aedes albopictus, otherwise known as the tiger mosquito. It may
seem strange, but before the 1990s it did not exist in Italy, while now
it has a ubiquitous and uncontrollable diffusion. The tiger mosquito is
a cousin of the much more fearsome Aedes aegypti, the main vector of
dengue and yellow fever, and shares with it the same ability to carry
most arboviurs, although with less effectiveness. But with the trend of
progressive tropicalization of the climate, it is not excluded that A.
aegypti itself may soon appear in Southern Europe. I also remember that
the even more infamous Anopheles mosquito, vector of malaria, is still
present in Italy, a disease eradicated in the 1970s but always ready to
resettle.
The real risk is therefore that of seeing the spread of devastating
pathologies that for decades we thought could remain safely confined to
those areas of the planet that we ourselves had plundered and
impoverished; or to see the reappearance of pathologies that we hoped to
have relegated to the "wretched of the earth" or that we believed were
no longer compatible with our (un)civilized world, such as malaria.
But we had done the calculations wrong. Like, or perhaps even more than,
Covid, arbovirosis brings to light the critical issues of an
increasingly unsustainable capitalist model. In fact, if with Covid,
conveyed by human-to-human contact, we understood the limits of a
mobility passed off as "without limits", with arbovirosis we concretely
see the effects of large-scale environmental devastation. Again, like
and more than Covid, the spread of arbovirosis reflects the climatic
injustice of the Capitalocene, being a phenomenon whose effects will
fall most heavily on the less wealthy areas of the planet and on the
most disadvantaged populations. In fact, if the most pessimistic
forecasts speak of a dengue epidemic in the UK by 2100, it is certain
that the areas that will pay the price the most are the Mediterranean
basin (which is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the planet)
and the South America. The scientific literature, produced and published
almost entirely in Western countries, focuses more on the risks
associated with the passage of infections from the South to the global
North. But we must not forget that the highest price will always be paid
by those populations who already live endemically with these
pathologies, namely Africa and South America. Wanting to give in to
apocalyptic predictions, the future seems to be polarized in a vast
humanity increasingly tormented by climate catastrophes and diseases,
which will be macabrely counterbalanced by "a tenth of privileged people
barricaded in Canada or Northern Europe to defend their 10 or 20 degrees
lower of livability" (E. Braga, 2023).
The strategies implemented to combat arboviruses reflect the same
lukewarm and blunt approach that we have towards climate change. That
is, mitigate, contain. However, with very modest results. If we consider
that today only a few centers in Italy offer the possibility of carrying
out diagnostic tests, we realize how the problem is largely
underestimated. But the winning strategy cannot pass through these
measures - which are indispensable - but rather through the attempt to
reverse (or subvert) the capitalist gear. Which would mean abandoning
fossil fuels, stopping deforestation and rebuilding ecosystems.
Riccardo Ricceri
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten