Vector-borne diseases

Climate change is like to have important effects on the prevalence of vector-borne diseases in Bangladesh. Changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases, and alter their geographic range. Dengue, formerly unknown in Bangladesh, is rapidly replicating due to rising temperatures. Already dengue is an emerging disease in the major cities of Dhaka and Chittagong^.

The number of malaria cases has dramatically risen over the past several decades. Records show that the incidence of malaria increased from 1556 cases in 1971; to 15375 cases in 1981; to 30,282 cases in 1991; and to 42,012 in 2004.Japanese encephalitis is also increasing in prevalence and is an emerging cause of encephalitis in Bangladesh. Higher rates of breeding in mosquitoes can accelerate the transmission of Japanese encephalitis. Visceral leishmaniasis is another disease that is increasing in prevalence as a result of flooding. Its cases cluster near flood embankments where standing water creates the environment for mosquito breeding. Building more embankments, a likely response to sea-level rise, may result in increase in the number of cases of visceral leishmaniasis in Bangladesh. 

Bangladesh instituted a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan in 2008 that includes addressing health and infrastructure, however there is still much work to be done to protect the country from the effects of climate change.