Interconnection and Infectious Disease
Progress has had many benefits for global health. As areas become less isolated, it becomes easier for people to reach hospitals and get essential medical supplies and a more interconnected world means we can spread information faster and further than ever before. Unfortunately, it also means diseases can spread faster and further if left unchecked. In Acre, Brazil, progress brought dengue fever. Before 2000, Acre never had any cases of dengue and by 2010 Acre had 35,000 recorded cases among its relatively small population of fewer than 1 million people.
Acre was surrounded by states that suffered from dengue fever but never had cases of its own until 2000. Leading up to these first cases, new infrastructure and commercial development throughout Brazil made Acre more connected to its surrounding states. New roads and airstrips brought infected people and imported produce brought stowaway mosquitos that carried the disease. As the city became more advanced, the population density increased so the disease could spread more quickly. Overall, the commercial development benefited Acre by bringing jobs and economic development but progress brought unexpected dangers along with it.
The world is deeply interconnected. This means that an outbreak of a virus anywhere in the world can become an international epidemic because of travelers or commercial exports. Diseases that are typically only found in small, isolated parts of the world are likely to spread to places that have never had to face these viruses. However, the world’s interconnectedness also means we are better able to combat these diseases. As isolated rural areas become more accessible, global health workers can more easily get medicines to these villages and researchers can better identify and help to solve the challenges they face. Global health workers can spread information faster so the people in previously isolated areas can access the education they need to help protect themselves from diseases; information from these villages can reach global health workers faster so they know what problems are most urgent in specific areas. This information also means that researchers can identify an epidemic before it spreads so it can be dealt with at the source. As the world becomes more connected, we face new global health problems but we also become more equipped to deal with these challenges.