El Nino and the Dynamics of Vectorborne Disease Transmission.

The objective of the study was to investigate the relationship betwoen reported incidence of dengue fever and El Nifuo southern oscillation (ENSO) in 14 island nations of the South Pacific.Using a mixed ecological study desig, we calculated: cor betn annual averages of the Southern oscillation index (SOI), iocal temperature and rinll, dengue fever. We also calculated temporal correlations between monthly reports of dengue`fever cases on different islands.There were positive correlations between SOI and dengue in 10 countries. In fi've of these (including all of the larger islands) there were also positive corelations between SOI and estimates of local temperature and/or rainfall. There were- temporal corlations between monthly reports of dengue cases within two groups of countries. Climate nges associated with ENSO may trigger an increase in dengue fever transmission in larger, more populated islands where the disease is endemic. There was also evidence of propagation of infection from larger islands to smaller neighbors. Unlike the initiation of epidemics, this transfer between islands appears to be independent of interannual climate variations, pointig to the importance of modulating factors in dengue transmission such as population density and travel. In the future, models of the impact of climate change must attempt to account for these factors.