Items of Public Health Interest

World Mosquito Day

August 20th is World Mosquito Day, a day that commemorates Sir Ronald Ross’s demonstration in 1897 that a female anopheline mosquito is responsible for transmitting malaria to approximately half the world’s human population. Though the use of quinine to treat malaria provided some relief, his discovery paved the way for the development of vector control… Continue reading World Mosquito Day

Large Lyme Disease Vaccine

Lyme disease, a source of stress for hikers and outdoorsy types, may soon become less of a threat. A new Lyme vaccine is under development, and this week, its creators announced the start of a large-scale clinical trial. Click on the link for more information. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/large-lyme-disease-vaccine-clinical-trial-begins-in-us-and-europe-180980570/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20220811-daily-responsive&spMailingID=47226522&spUserID=ODY0NTg2MjM3MzcyS0&spJobID=2301166052&spReportId=MjMwMTE2NjA1MgS2

¿Por qué han regresado los chinches de cama y cómo los podemos combatir?

Las chinches de cama han vivido en nuestras casas durante miles de años. Este pequeño insecto hemíptero es un ectoparásito que se alimenta de sangre humana y de otros animales como aves de corral, murciélagos o roedores. Hay dos especies que afectan a humanos: Cimex lectularius, más cosmopolita, y C. hemipterus más frecuente en trópicos… Continue reading ¿Por qué han regresado los chinches de cama y cómo los podemos combatir?

Male Mosquitoes Don’t Want Your Blood, But They Still Find You Very Attractive

By Perran Ross, Ph.D. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article at: https://entomologytoday.org/2021/10/12/male-mosquitoes-dont-want-blood-still-find-humans-attractive/. The whine of the mosquito is unpleasant and often inescapable outdoors on summer evenings. Mosquitoes track you down from tens of meters away by sensing carbon dioxide in the air you breathe out.… Continue reading Male Mosquitoes Don’t Want Your Blood, But They Still Find You Very Attractive

Integrated Mosquito Control: Proven Methods or Miasmatic Vapors? A call to Action.

When it comes to malaria control, you need to talk tough.i That was the position Dr. Arata Kochi took shortly after accepting his posting as Director of the Malaria Division of the World Health Organization during the second half of the 1990s. Dr. Kochi was worried that, in the war against malaria, silver bullets inevitably morph into rubber… Continue reading Integrated Mosquito Control: Proven Methods or Miasmatic Vapors? A call to Action.

How mosquitoes find a victim.

Anyone who’s ever felt the subtle sting of a mosquito bite and delivered a sharp slap to the affected area has probably wondered: How are mosquitoes so good at hunting down humans? The moment we step outside, it seems, they arrive en masse, ready to suck nutrient-rich blood from their next victim. Researchers used gene-editing technology in an attempt to… Continue reading How mosquitoes find a victim.

Learn how insecticide resistance impacts infection prevention and control

On this three-week course, you’ll examine the rise of insecticide resistant mosquitoes and the resultant need for a new approach in the world’s fight against malaria. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/the-resistant-mosquito-staying-ahead-of-the-game-in-the-fight-against-malaria

Global, regional, and national dengue burden from 1990 to 2017

The global burden of dengue is high, but poorly quantified and likely under-reported. Almost three million disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were lost to dengue in 2017: an over 100% increase since 1990 Using the methods of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors study, Zeng et al. characterized the dengue burden in 195 countries… Continue reading Global, regional, and national dengue burden from 1990 to 2017

Realtime Tracking and Forecasting of Outbreak Risk of Dengue, Zika and other Aedes-transmitted Diseases

AeDeS: a next‐generation monitoring and forecasting system for environmental suitability of Aedes‐borne disease transmission,

New malaria vector could bring malaria back to Africa

Scientists say an invasive mosquito species was likely responsible for a large outbreak of malaria in Ethiopia earlier this year By MARIA CHENG AP Scientists say an invasive mosquito species was likely responsible for a large malaria outbreak in Ethiopia earlier this year, a finding that experts called a worrying sign that progress against the disease is… Continue reading New malaria vector could bring malaria back to Africa