Climate, Contagion, and Disease Dynamics: A Comparative Analysis of Dengue in Bangladesh and Singapore

Author: Ruby Bogaisky

Field of Study: Environmental Science

Program Affiliation: Source Project Research Program

Faculty Mentors: Matthew Cole

Easel: 70

Timeslot: Morning

Abstract: Climate change is reshaping the environmental conditions that drive infectious disease transmission, but its consequences are not evenly distributed. This study compares Bangladesh, where dengue incidence has rapidly intensified in the last decade, with Singapore, where transmission is historically established and more consistently managed. Through a comparative analysis of both countries’ public health infrastructure, meteorological patterns and dengue occurrence data, this research examines how similar climate pressures may produce contrasting outbreak dynamics and the socioeconomic, environmental, and infrastructural influences that are at the root of this disparity. This research highlights how climate change creates expanding zones of risk, and furthermore redistributes it unevenly among populations, revealing important implications for global health equity, specifically in understanding the challenges altered infectious disease transmission will present for existing public health systems and the capacity of populations to adapt to rapidly changing epidemiological patterns.