El Niño, La Niña, and infectious disease: Understanding how ENSO cycles impact immunity and outbreak patterns

Variations in temperature, precipitation, and humidity can influence the spread of infectious diseases, including by altering the habitats of disease transmitters such as mosquitoes. Extreme weather events can disrupt health care responses as well. Previous studies have shown that the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with its alternating warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) phases, alters extreme weather and may also influence the spread of infectious diseases, such as cholera, dengue, malaria, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and Rift Valley fever.