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Multiple blood meals speed up malaria parasite development
Our findings suggest that parasites can be transmitted by younger mosquitoes, with potential consequences for increased malaria transmission and challenges to disease control strategies.
22 Jan 2021
Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes can transmit the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria when they blood feed on people.
Photo credit: Jim Gathany, CDC
Malaria is a deadly global burden
Female
Anopheles mosquitoes transmit the
Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria. Control methods targeting mosquito populations, such as insecticide-treated bed nets, have greatly decreased the malaria burden in recent decades. Nevertheless, malaria remains a devastating cause of disease and mortality in tropical and sub-tropical regions, with over 400,000 deaths and 220 million cases in 2019. To progress further in the fight against malaria, we need a deeper understanding of the factors affecting transmission, as mosquito popul
Repeated blood meals for mosquitoes can speed development of malaria-causing parasites
An additional feeding on human blood by a mosquito infected with
Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, can accelerate the development of the parasite and increase the potential for transmission to humans, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study authors said the findings indicate that the potential for malaria transmission is likely higher than previously thought given that female mosquitoes naturally feed multiple times during their lifespans. And if the potential for transmission is higher, that means eliminating the disease in high-burden areas across sub-Saharan Africa could be more difficult than previously estimated, according to the study.
An additional feeding on human blood by a mosquito infected with
Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, can accelerate the development of the parasite and increase the potential for transmission to humans, according to new research led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The study authors said the findings indicate that the potential for malaria transmission is likely higher than previously thought given that female mosquitoes naturally feed multiple times during their lifespans. And if the potential for transmission is higher, that means eliminating the disease in high-burden areas across sub-Saharan Africa could be more difficult than previously estimated, according to the study.
Study indicates malaria risk can be accelerated by multiple mosquito blood meals ANI | Updated: Jan 03, 2021 10:59 IST
Boston (Massachusetts) [US], January 3 (ANI): A recent research by Virginia Tech and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health revealed that multiple blood meals by mosquitoes increase malaria transmission potential and shorten the incubation period for malaria parasites.
The researchers from Lauren Childs of Virginia Tech, Flaminia Catteruccia of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues, published the study in the open-access journal PLOS Pathogens which shows that mosquitoes feed on blood multiple times in natural settings, the results suggest that malaria elimination may be substantially more challenging than suggested by previous experiments, which typically involve a single blood meal.
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