Prevalence of respiratory viral infections in Ukraine in the context of global warming

Abstract

The International Panel on Climate Change and the World Meteorological Organization confirms risks of global warming. There is a growing interest in the prevalence of respiratory viral infections due to the current climate change. The aim of the research was to study and analyze the dynamics of prevalence of acute respiratory viral infections/influenza for 2006–2018 in Ukraine in relation to global warming. Materials and methods. In the course of the research, information and analytical reports provided by the Ternopil Regional Laboratory Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the incidence of respiratory viral infections in 24 regions of Ukraine and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were used. Results. In Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Rivne, Sumy, Volyn, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhia, Zakarpattia, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Odesa, Kherson, and Mykolayiv regions, there was an annual grow of morbidity, with varying degree, compared to 2006. In Poltava, Ternopil and Chernihiv regions level of viral infection was lower than in 2006 only in two or three years of the 12-year research period. In Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi and Dnipropetrovsk regions, about half of the studied years were characterized by the grow of morbidity from influenza compared to 2006, and in other years after the decrease there was a tendency to increase of morbidity from influenza. Only in Lviv and Kharkiv regions the level of morbidity from respiratory viral infection was higher only in 2007 and 2009 compared to 2006. In Luhansk, Donetsk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in the period 2007–2013 the grow of influenza prevalence was observed compared to 2006. Conclusion. Thus, in the context of increasing global warming in Ukraine from 2006 to 2018, there was a higher level of influenza/acute respiratory viral infections, compared to the period up to 2006. Keywords: respiratory viral infections, global warming.