Para ilmuwan memperingatkan peningkatan tajam infeksi “pemakan daging” di beberapa bagian Amerika Serikat karena perubahan iklim
Perubahan iklim meningkatkan infeksi bakteri yang fatal di Pantai Timur Amerika Serikat. itu Vibrio vulnificus Bakteri tersebut tumbuh subur di perairan pantai yang hangat dan dapat menginfeksi luka atau gigitan serangga. Sebuah studi baru mengungkapkan bahwa infeksi telah meningkat dari 10 menjadi 80 kasus per tahun selama tiga dekade, dengan kasus yang sekarang lazim di Philadelphia Utara. Sering disebut sebagai bakteri “pemakan daging”, bakteri ini dapat menyebabkan kerusakan parah, terkadang mengakibatkan amputasi anggota tubuh bagi yang selamat.
Pemanasan iklim yang terus berlanjut akan meningkatkan jumlah dan penyebaran infeksi fatal yang disebabkan oleh bakteri yang ditemukan di sepanjang bagian pantai AS.
Vibrio vulnificus Bakteri berkembang biak di perairan pantai yang hangat dan dangkal dan dapat menginfeksi luka atau gigitan serangga saat bersentuhan dengan air laut. Sebuah studi baru yang dipimpin oleh University of East Anglia di Inggris menunjukkan bahwa jumlah V. vulnificus Infeksi di sepanjang Pantai Timur AS, hotspot global untuk infeksi semacam itu, telah meningkat dari 10 menjadi 80 setiap tahun selama 30 tahun terakhir.
Selain itu, kasus terjadi setiap tahun di Utara. Pada akhir 1980-an, kasus ditemukan di Teluk Meksiko dan sepanjang pantai Atlantik selatan tetapi jarang terjadi di utara Georgia. Hari ini dapat ditemukan sejauh utara Philadelphia.
Para peneliti memperkirakan bahwa pada tahun 2041-2060 infeksi dapat menyebar ke pusat populasi besar di sekitar New York. Jumlah kasus tahunan bisa berlipat ganda, seiring dengan pertumbuhan populasi dan populasi lansia yang semakin rentan terhadap infeksi.
Pada tahun 2081–2100, infeksi dapat hadir di setiap negara bagian AS bagian timur dengan skenario emisi sedang hingga tinggi di masa depan dan pemanasan global.
Hasil diterbitkan hari ini (23 Maret 2023) di jurnal
“We show that by the end of the 21st Century, V. vulnificus infections will extend further northwards but how far North will depend upon the degree of further warming and therefore on our future greenhouse gas emissions.
“If emissions are kept low, then cases may extend northwards only as far as Connecticut. If emissions are high, infections are predicted to occur in every US state on the East Coast. By the end of the 21st Century we predict that around 140-200 V. vulnificus infections may be reported each year.”
The research team suggests that individuals and health authorities could be warned in real time about particularly risky environmental conditions through marine or Vibrio specific early warning systems.
Active control measures could include greater awareness programmes for at risk groups, for example the elderly and individuals with underlying health conditions, and coastal signage during high-risk periods.
Co-author Prof Iain Lake from UEA said: “The observation that cases of V. vulnificus have expanded northwards along the East Coast of the US is an indication of the effect that climate change is already having on human health and the coastline. Knowing where cases are likely to occur in future should help health services plan for the future.”
The study is the first to map how the locations of V. vulnificus cases have changed along the eastern coastline of the US. It also the first to explore how climate change may influence the spread of cases in the future.
Information on where people caught V. vulnificus infection was obtained from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This allowed the team to map how cases of Vibrio vulnificus have extended northwards over 30 years from 1988-2018.
Temperature information based on observations and computer-based climate models were then used to predict where in the US cases might occur by the end of the 21st Century.
Co-author Prof James Oliver from the University of North Carolina Charlotte, in the US, said: “This is a landmark paper which not only ties global climate change to disease but provides strong evidence for the environmental spread of this extremely deadly bacterial pathogen.”
Reference: “Climate warming and increasing Vibrio vulnificus infections in North America” by Elizabeth Archer et al., 23 March 2023, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28247-2
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