Implications of Changing Temperatures on the Growth, Fecundity and Survival of Intermediate Host Snails of Schistosomiasis: A Systematic Review
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School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Howard College Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
2
School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, Westville Campus, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Peng Bi
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(1), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14010080
Received: 7 November 2016 / Revised: 4 January 2017 / Accepted: 9 January 2017 / Published: 13 January 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Extreme Weather and Public Health)
Climate change has been predicted to increase the global mean temperature and to alter the ecological interactions among organisms. These changes may play critical roles in influencing the life history traits of the intermediate hosts (IHs). This review focused on studies and disease models that evaluate the potential effect of temperature rise on the ecology of IH snails and the development of parasites within them. The main focus was on IH snails of schistosome parasites that cause schistosomiasis in humans. A literature search was conducted on Google Scholar, EBSCOhost and PubMed databases using predefined medical subject heading terms, Boolean operators and truncation symbols in combinations with direct key words. The final synthesis included nineteen published articles. The studies reviewed indicated that temperature rise may alter the distribution, optimal conditions for breeding, growth and survival of IH snails which may eventually increase the spread and/or transmission of schistosomiasis. The literature also confirmed that the life history traits of IH snails and their interaction with the schistosome parasites are affected by temperature and hence a change in climate may have profound outcomes on the population size of snails, parasite density and disease epidemiology. We concluded that understanding the impact of temperature on the growth, fecundity and survival of IH snails may broaden the knowledge on the possible effects of climate change and hence inform schistosomiasis control programmes.
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Keywords:
growth; fecundity; survival; intermediate host snails; schistosomes; schistosomiasis; temperature
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MDPI and ACS Style
Kalinda, C.; Chimbari, M.; Mukaratirwa, S. Implications of Changing Temperatures on the Growth, Fecundity and Survival of Intermediate Host Snails of Schistosomiasis: A Systematic Review. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14, 80.
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