Dataset Information

The risk of incomplete personal protection coverage in vector-borne disease.

ABSTRACT: Personal protection (PP) techniques, such as insecticide-treated nets, repellents and medications, include some of the most important and commonest ways used today to protect individuals from vector-borne infectious diseases. In this study, we explore the possibility that a PP intervention with partial coverage may have the counterintuitive effect of increasing disease burden at the population level, by increasing the biting intensity on the unprotected portion of the population. To this end, we have developed a dynamic model which incorporates parameters that describe the potential effects of PP on vector searching and biting behaviour and calculated its basic reproductive rate, R0. R0 is a well-established threshold of disease risk; the higher R0 is above unity, the stronger the disease onset intensity. When R0 is below unity, the disease is typically unable to persist. The model analysis revealed that partial coverage with popular PP techniques can realistically lead to a substantial increase in the reproductive number. An increase in R0 implies an increase in disease burden and difficulties in eradication efforts within certain parameter regimes. Our findings therefore stress the importance of studying vector behavioural patterns in response to PP interventions for future mitigation of vector-borne diseases.

SUBMITTER: Miller E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4780561 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The risk of incomplete personal protection coverage in vector-borne disease.

Miller Ezer E Dushoff Jonathan J Huppert Amit A

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface 20160201 115

Personal protection (PP) techniques, such as insecticide-treated nets, repellents and medications, include some of the most important and commonest ways used today to protect individuals from vector-borne infectious diseases. In this study, we explore the possibility that a PP intervention with partial coverage may have the counterintuitive effect of increasing disease burden at the population level, by increasing the biting intensity on the unprotected portion of the population. To this end, we ...[more]

PMID: 26911486

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Project description:BackgroundAs climate variability and extreme weather events associated with climate change become more prevalent, public health authorities can expect to face an expanding spectrum of vector-borne diseases with increasing incidence and geographical spread. Common interventions include the use of larvicides and adulticides, as well as targeted communications to increase public awareness regarding the need for personal protective measures, such as mosquito repellant, protective clothing, and mosquito nets. Here, we propose a simplified compartmental model of mosquito-borne disease dynamics that incorporates the use of personal protection against mosquito bites influenced by two key individual-level behavioral drivers-concern for being bitten by mosquitos as a nuisance and concern for mosquito-borne disease transmission.MethodsWe propose a modified compartmental model that describes the dynamics of vector-borne disease spread in a naïve population while considering the public demand for community-level control and, importantly, the effects of personal-level protection on population-level outbreak dynamics. We consider scenarios at low, medium, and high levels of community-level vector control, and at each level, we consider combinations of low, medium, and high levels of motivation to use personal protection, namely concern for disease transmission and concern for being bitten in general.ResultsWhen there is very little community-level vector control, nearly the entire population is quickly infected, regardless of personal protection use. When vector control is at an intermediate level, both concerns that motivate the use of personal protection play an important role in reducing disease burden. When authorities have the capacity for high-level community vector control through pesticide use, the motivation to use personal protection to reduce disease transmission has little additional effect on the outbreak.ConclusionsWhile results show that personal-level protection alone is not enough to significantly impact an outbreak, personal protective measures can significantly reduce the severity of an outbreak in conjunction with community-level control. Furthermore, the model provides insight for targeting public health messaging to increase the use of personal protection based on concerns related to being bitten by mosquitos or vector-borne disease transmission.

Project description:BackgroundThe aim of this study was to determine exposure to vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in populations of dogs living on Greek islands in the Ionian and Aegean seas.MethodsIn total, 1154 dogs with different lifestyles and of varying ages and breeds were randomly sampled and examined for the presence of clinical signs compatible with canine vector-borne diseases (CVBDs). Blood was collected from each individual animal. For the detection of antibodies against Leishmania spp., the WITNESS® Leishmania test was performed, and positive samples were further examined with indirect enzymatic immunoassay (ELISA). Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Ehrlichia canis or E. ewingii, as well as Anaplasma phagocytophilum or A. platys were investigated using the Snap® 4Dx® Plus test. Positive Ehrlichia spp. and Anaplasma spp. samples were further examined using an indirect ELISA for further identification of the species.ResultsIn total, 25.6% of dogs were exposed to at least one of the pathogens investigated, with seroprevalences varying regionally. Of these seropositive dogs, 27.4% displayed clinical signs suggestive of CVBDs, such as cutaneous lesions, enlarged lymph nodes, pale mucous membranes, onychogryphosis and weight loss. The overall seroprevalence detected using the rapid tests was 15.3% for Leishmania spp., whereas 2.3% of the examined dogs were found to be positive for Anaplasma spp. and 7.5% for Ehrlichia spp. while B. burgdorferi was not detected. Twenty-four samples positive to A. phagocytophilum by ELISA were analysed by PCR for the presence of Anaplasma DNA. PCR and sequencing results showed the presence of A. platys DNA in 4 samples and E. canis DNA in 4 samples. The remaining samples (66.7%) were negative.ConclusionsIn the present study, exposure of dogs to VBPs was shown in the geographical areas investigated. Results confirm that on Greek islands VBPs represent a constant health risk for both native and visiting dogs, suggesting the presence of distinct "hot-spots" of VBP infections on different islands. In order to reduce the risk of transmission and the spread to non-endemic regions, the protection of dogs through use of repellents and vaccines, together with owner education, seem to be of paramount importance.

Project description:BackgroundOver the past century, the size and complexity of the air travel network has increased dramatically. Nowadays, there are 29.6 million scheduled flights per year and around 2.7 billion passengers are transported annually. The rapid expansion of the network increasingly connects regions of endemic vector-borne disease with the rest of the world, resulting in challenges to health systems worldwide in terms of vector-borne pathogen importation and disease vector invasion events. Here we describe the development of a user-friendly Web-based GIS tool: the Vector-Borne Disease Airline Importation Risk Tool (VBD-AIR), to help better define the roles of airports and airlines in the transmission and spread of vector-borne diseases.MethodsSpatial datasets on modeled global disease and vector distributions, as well as climatic and air network traffic data were assembled. These were combined to derive relative risk metrics via air travel for imported infections, imported vectors and onward transmission, and incorporated into a three-tier server architecture in a Model-View-Controller framework with distributed GIS components. A user-friendly web-portal was built that enables dynamic querying of the spatial databases to provide relevant information.ResultsThe VBD-AIR tool constructed enables the user to explore the interrelationships among modeled global distributions of vector-borne infectious diseases (malaria. dengue, yellow fever and chikungunya) and international air service routes to quantify seasonally changing risks of vector and vector-borne disease importation and spread by air travel, forming an evidence base to help plan mitigation strategies. The VBD-AIR tool is available at http://www.vbd-air.com.ConclusionsVBD-AIR supports a data flow that generates analytical results from disparate but complementary datasets into an organized cartographical presentation on a web map for the assessment of vector-borne disease movements on the air travel network. The framework built provides a flexible and robust informatics infrastructure by separating the modules of functionality through an ontological model for vector-borne disease. The VBD?AIR tool is designed as an evidence base for visualizing the risks of vector-borne disease by air travel for a wide range of users, including planners and decisions makers based in state and local government, and in particular, those at international and domestic airports tasked with planning for health risks and allocating limited resources.

Dataset Information

The risk of incomplete personal protection coverage in vector-borne disease.

Publications

The risk of incomplete personal protection coverage in vector-borne disease.

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