A scoping review on climate change and tuberculosis

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Infectious Diseases
• Global Public Health

Background:

• Climate change poses a significant global public health challenge.
• Tuberculosis (TB) is a major worldwide health issue, disproportionately affecting low and middle-income countries.
• Existing evidence on the specific impact of climate change on TB is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review on the relationship between climate change and tuberculosis.
• To synthesize current knowledge on the pathways through which climate change influences TB.
• To identify research gaps and suggest future research directions.

Main Methods:

• A five-stage scoping review methodology following Arksey and O'Malley.
• Literature search conducted in Google Scholar and PubMed using relevant keywords.
• Synthesis of findings from selected studies.

Main Results:

• Climate change affects TB through various pathways, including alterations in host immunity (e.g., vitamin D, UV radiation) and increased malnutrition.
• Extreme climate events lead to population displacement, increasing TB vulnerability and transmission risk.
• Climate change disrupts TB diagnosis and treatment services, particularly in vulnerable regions.
• The relationship between climate change and TB is complex and more pronounced in highly susceptible areas.

Conclusions:

• Climate change demonstrably affects the burden and patterns of tuberculosis.
• Urgent need for further research with novel methodologies to elucidate the climate change-TB nexus.
• Interventions must consider climate change impacts to effectively combat tuberculosis globally.