Assessing the relationship between weather and Tuberculosis. (A case study of Soroti District)
Abstract
Air temperature variations world widely has been reported to affect various respiratory diseases however it is less documented when it comes to tuberculosis.There has been much change in the distribution of tuberculosis recently as a result of changes in weather elements like the air temperaturewhich has resulted to various mutations which has taken place inthe mycobacterium strains. Themutations which occur as a result of seasonal variations in temperaturehas brought about Mycobacterium strain showing resistance to pharmacological interventions. Therefore scientists have kept on trying to identifythese resistant strains and as well compounding new drugs that can be used to cure the disease (Tuberculosis). Systematic review of peer reviewed studies identified through literature searches using online databases belonging to PubMed and the Cochrane library with key words “Tuberculosis, climate change” and “Tuberculosis, Seasonal variation”. The search was restricted to articles published in English. The notifications and cases of tuberculosis disease in Soroti as a case study shows a seasonal pattern, with a peak during the months of March, April, May, October and December. New tuberculosis strains are discovered during these periods which fall during the cold season in Soroti. Since seasons involve variations in various phenomena like temperature, humidity, precipitation, length of daylight, and so forth and also vary by geography and latitude, the presence of climate change, seasonal variation and the timing and magnitude of such seasonal variation may depend on some of these factors in ways not yet fullyunderstood. Temperature variationsbrings about a seasonal pattern of Tuberculosis for newly diagnosed smear positive cases with variable degrees of changes. These observationsidentified show a possiblepresence of a seasonal disease-modifying factor. The regulation of peak seasonality in Tuberculosis case detection may prove to be as very important in initiating measures for a better implementation of control in Soroti District.