The Role of Place and Time in the Epidemiology of Tropical Diseases

Abstract

The diseases found predominantly within or around the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn have been among the most virulent and destructive, arresting the economic development of the human populations affected and remaining a significant public health risk even in the 21st century. Chief among these tropical diseases is malaria, an insect vector-borne disease which causes great loss of life and which has outwitted many of the major advances in medical science. Such insect vector-borne diseases are closely synchronised to the annual seasonal rainfall patterns as well as the physical geography of the environment. Other diseases, such as bacterial meningitis, occur in those locations where water is absent from the environment and is closely related to the timing of moisture changes and cultural affectations of the human populations affected. This paper seeks to examine the specific roles of location and time in the epidemiology of tropical diseases and asks what technological advances (and methodological innovations) might help reduce the burden of such diseases in the future.