Global Climate Indices - A Problem or a Solution to the Geospatial Analysis of Infectious Diseases

Many climatic and geological variables can modulate the association of infectious disease exposure and disease temporally. Temperature, precipitation, wind velocity and directionality, air humidity, barometric pressure, and seismic activity can be included to name a few. However, as we think about these covariates and how they interact to facilitate the development of geo-climatically influenced infectious diseases, several other parameters also come to mind such as diurnal cyclical fluctuations, deforestation, and global migratory patterns. Indeed, very quickly, our efforts to minimize residual confounding become laborious, with every newly discovered interaction opening up “a new can of worms.”