La epidemia de malaria de 1783-1786notas sobre la influencia de anomalías climáticas y cambios de usos del suelo en la salud humana

Resumen

Malaria is a vector-transmitted disease which perfectly refl ects relationships between society, health and the environment over time. The variables which determine the fl uctuating disease cycles of malaria include a number of complex links between environmental conditions, land use, human population densities, and health and sanitary conditions. Based on current projections for the behaviour of malaria in relation to climate change, this article proposes a model which can be used to interpret the causes of the epidemic that occurred in Spain between 1783 and 1786, within the context of the exceptional climatic phenomenon known as the Malda Anomaly. In order to draw up this model, a case study was carried out focusing on the Central Valencia Basin (hyperendemic zone), evaluating the climatic anomalies of the time, as well as the signifi cant deforestation processes, the expansion of rice farming and the medical debate regarding the control of the disease in conditions that were generally unhealthy and plagued with malnutrition.