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A study by a team of researchers from Virginia Tech and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health claimed that multiple episodes of blood feeding by mosquitoes shortened the incubation period of malaria parasites and increased the potential for transmission. malaria.
Published in the open access journal PLOS Pathogens by Lauren Childs of Virginia Tech, Flaminia Catteruccia of Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues show that mosquitoes feed on blood multiple times in natural settings, results suggest that eliminating malaria can be much more difficult than suggested by previous experiences, which usually involve a single blood meal.
In the wild, the female mosquito Anopheles gambiae, the main vector of malaria, feeds on blood several times during her life. Such complex behavior is routinely overlooked when mosquitoes are experimentally infected with malaria parasites, limiting our ability to accurately describe potential effects on transmission.
In the new study, researchers are examining how supplemental blood supply affects the potential for development and transmission of Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites in “An Gambiae” females.
“We wanted to capture the fact that in endemic areas, mosquitoes that carry malaria feed on blood about every 2-3 days,” said W. Robert Shaw, lead author of this study.
The results show that an additional blood supply three days after infection with P. falciparum accelerates the growth of the malaria parasite, thereby shortening the incubation period necessary before transmission to humans can occur.
Incorporating this data into a mathematical model across sub-Saharan Africa reveals that the potential for malaria transmission is probably higher than previously thought, making elimination of the disease more difficult. Furthermore, parasite growth is accelerated in genetically modified mosquitoes with reduced reproductive capacity, suggesting that control strategies using this approach, aimed at suppressing anopheline populations, may inadvertently promote transmission. malaria.
The data also suggests that the parasites can be transmitted by younger mosquitoes, which are less likely to be killed by insecticides, with negative implications for the success of insecticide-based strategies. Taken together, the results suggest that younger mosquitoes and those with reduced reproductive capacity may make a greater contribution to infection than previously thought.
According to the authors, the results have important implications for accurately understanding the potential for malaria transmission and estimating the true impact of current and future mosquito control measures.
(This story was posted from an agency feed with no text editing.)
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