ECOLOGIA E DINAMICA DELLE MALATTIE INFETTIVE LEGATE ALL’ACQUA

Abstract

Water-related diseases encompass a broad spectrum of pathologies that are linked to water either because contaminated water is used for drinking or preparing food (e.g. cholera, typhoid), or because water bodies are the habitat of vectors transmitting the disease (e.g. malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis). The related burden of disease is quite high. For instance, unsafe water sources are responsible for 1.4 million deaths each year. Understanding the ecology of pathogens and vectors is fundamental to describing the dynamics of the diseases via appropriate modelling, which also accounts for the hydrology of water bodies. Examples of spatial and temporal dynamical models of some epidemics are provided.