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Pathogens
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Insects Vectors of Pathogens
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Insects Vectors of Pathogens

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2024) | Viewed by 4797

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Kaio Cesar Chaboli Alevi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Parasitology Laboratory, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, Rodovia Araraquara-Jaú km 1, Araraquara 14801-902, SP, Brazil
Interests: Chagas disease; sleeping sickness; parasitology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vector insects are invertebrates grouped in the orders Diptera, Hemiptera, Anoplura, and Siphonaptera that have great importance for public health. Species from these orders are responsible for the transmission of many pathogens that cause diseases that result in a major public health problem, such as dengue, chikungunya, Zika, yellow fever, malaria, lymphatic filariasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, onchocerciasis, and bubonic plague. A better understanding of insect vector species biology, systematics, taxonomy, and evolution can support more effective management and control strategies to mitigate the mortality and morbidity of these diseases. This is of great importance since, for the most part, vector control is the main alternative to minimize the incidence of vector-borne disease to humans and animals. This Special Issue aims to address the important gap in knowledge associated with the biological, systematic, taxonomic, and evolution processes associated with insect vector species. Our goal is to compile and publish scientific articles from prominent research groups in this Research Topic to help further our understanding on issues related to public health, as the dynamics of vector-borne disease transmission, which can assist in the activities of vector control programs.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Taxonomy assignments and revisions of insect vector species
  • Phylogenetics, phylogenomics, and systematics of insect vectors
  • Evolutionary ecology, including the studies related to the speciation and hybridization of insect vectors
  • Biology, vectorial capacity and competence of insect vector species
  • Evolutionary and population genetics of insect vectors
  • Genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and phenomics of insect vector

Dr. Kaio Cesar Chaboli Alevi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • medical entomology
  • Dengue
  • Chikungunya
  • Zika
  • yellow fever
  • malaria
  • lymphatic filariasis
  • leishmaniasis
  • Chagas disease
  • sleeping sickness
  • onchocerciasis
  • bubonic plague

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2151 KiB  
Article
Mapping the Silent Threat: A Comprehensive Analysis of Chagas Disease Occurrence in Riverside Communities in the Western Amazon
by Daniela da Silva Paixão, Fernanda Portela Madeira, Adila Costa de Jesus, Hêmilly Caroline da Silva Paixão, Juliana de Souza Almeida Aranha Camargo, Mariane Albuquerque Lima Ribeiro, Leandro José Ramos, Jader de Oliveira, João Aristeu da Rosa, Paulo Sérgio Bernarde, Antonieta Pereira Relvas, Sergio de Almeida Basano, Luis Marcelo Aranha Camargo and Dionatas Ulises de Oliveira Meneguetti
Pathogens 2024, 13(2), 176; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13020176 - 15 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1006
Abstract
Chagas disease (CD) is a typical tropical illness caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Chagas disease in communities in two states of the Brazilian Amazon. Data collection occurred in July in the Alto [...] Read more.
Chagas disease (CD) is a typical tropical illness caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of Chagas disease in communities in two states of the Brazilian Amazon. Data collection occurred in July in the Alto Juruá region of Acre and in December in the communities of Humaitá, Amazonas, in 2019. A total of 477 participants were included in the study. In the communities of Alto Juruá, triatomine collections and analyses of T. cruzi infection were also carried out. All confirmed cases were found in the state of Acre, resulting in a total prevalence of 1.67. Of these eight cases, seven underwent ECG, all of which were concluded as normal by the physician team’s cardiologists. Seventeen triatomine bugs, all belonging to the Rhodnius genus, were captured. The natural infection rate by T. cruzi was 25% in the Nova Cintra community and 66.67% in the Boca do Moa community (Alto Juruá). This research found that more than 1% of the studied population exhibited positive serological results for Chagas disease in the riverine communities during the study period, representing a small portion of cases among those who have not yet been diagnosed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insects Vectors of Pathogens)
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10 pages, 2523 KiB  
Article
Morphological, Cytological and Molecular Studies and Feeding and Defecation Pattern of Hybrids from Experimental Crosses between Triatoma sordida and T. rosai (Hemiptera, Triatominae)
by Roberto Dezan Vicente, Fernanda Fernandez Madeira, Kelly Cristine Borsatto, Ariane Cristina Caris Garcia, Daniel Cesaretto Cristal, Luiza Maria Grzyb Delgado, Isadora de Freitas Bittinelli, Denis Vinicius De Mello, Yago Visinho Dos Reis, Amanda Ravazi, Cleber Galvão, Maria Tercília Vilela De Azeredo-Oliveira, João Aristeu Da Rosa, Jader De Oliveira and Kaio Cesar Chaboli Alevi
Pathogens 2022, 11(11), 1302; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11111302 - 6 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1564
Abstract
Under laboratory conditions, Triatoma rosai and T. sordida are able to cross and produce hybrids. In the face of climate and environmental changes, the study of hybrids of triatomines has evolutionary and epidemiological implications. Therefore, we performed morphological, cytological and molecular studies and [...] Read more.
Under laboratory conditions, Triatoma rosai and T. sordida are able to cross and produce hybrids. In the face of climate and environmental changes, the study of hybrids of triatomines has evolutionary and epidemiological implications. Therefore, we performed morphological, cytological and molecular studies and characterized the feeding and defecation pattern of hybrids from crosses between T. sordida and T. rosai. The morphological characterization of the female genitalia of the hybrids showed that characteristics of both parental species segregated in the hybrids. Cytogenetic analyzes of hybrids showed regular metaphases. According to molecular studies, the mitochondrial marker Cytochrome B (CytB) related the hybrids with T. sordida and the nuclear marker Internal Transcribed Spacer 1 (ITS-1) related the hybrids with T. rosai. Both parents and hybrids defecated during the blood meal. Thus, the hybrids resulting from the cross between T. sordida and T. rosai presented segregation of phenotypic characters of both parental species, 100% homeology between homeologous chromosomes, phylogenetic relationship with T sordida and with T. rosai (with CytB and ITS-1, respectively), and, finally, feeding and defecation patterns similar to the parents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insects Vectors of Pathogens)
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Review

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28 pages, 3843 KiB  
Review
Predictor Variables in the Spread of Chagas Disease in Rural Areas
by Liziana de Sousa Leite, Valéria Christina de Rezende Feres and Paulo Sérgio Scalize
Pathogens 2024, 13(5), 394; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens13050394 - 8 May 2024
Viewed by 586
Abstract
Over a hundred years ago after the discovery of Chagas disease (CD) in Brazil, the World Health Organization estimates a number of 6 to 7 million people infected by Trypanosoma cruzi worldwide. Therefore, the goal of this work was to identify variables related [...] Read more.
Over a hundred years ago after the discovery of Chagas disease (CD) in Brazil, the World Health Organization estimates a number of 6 to 7 million people infected by Trypanosoma cruzi worldwide. Therefore, the goal of this work was to identify variables related to the spread of infection by T. cruzi in humans living in rural areas, seeking predictor variables. A systematic review of the literature has been conducted, with a search in the Scopus platform, using the search string “Chagas disease” and “rural”, resulting in 85 valid and analyzed scientific studies (1977 and 2022). Twenty-seven predictor variables have been acquired, and 19 of them have been grouped, such as: socioeconomic and educational, housing, environmental, sanitary, and cultural; and 8 variables related to T. cruzi seropositive individuals. The predictor variables yielded significant results (p-value < 0.05) in 59.5% of the cases (195/328), with a median of 66.7%. In other words, studies relating to 50% of the 27 variables showed significance equal to or greater than 66.7% of the time. The independent variables with the highest proportion of significant data (p-value < 0.05) were Education (87.6%), Intradomicile building (70%), Domestic animals (69.6%), and Triatomines (69.2%) in the households. Some variables reached 100%; however, few articles were found, indicating the need for further research, especially for Sanitation and Culture. It has been concluded that, in the several contexts found, the social vulnerability and lack of information led the individual to living in environments where inhabitability is inadequate, to perform limited work activity and develop habits and behaviors which impair them in an environmental insalubrity situation, favorable to the access of vectors and pathogens of anthropozoonoses such as CD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insects Vectors of Pathogens)
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13 pages, 3899 KiB  
Review
Nuclear Morphofunctional Organization and Epigenetic Characteristics in Somatic Cells of T. infestans (Klug, 1834)
by Maria Luiza S. Mello
Pathogens 2023, 12(8), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12081030 - 11 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1008
Abstract
Triatoma infestans (Klug) is an insect recognized as not only an important vector of South American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) but also a model of specific cellular morphofunctional organization and epigenetic characteristics. The purpose of the present review is to highlight certain cellular processes [...] Read more.
Triatoma infestans (Klug) is an insect recognized as not only an important vector of South American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) but also a model of specific cellular morphofunctional organization and epigenetic characteristics. The purpose of the present review is to highlight certain cellular processes that are particularly unveiled in T. infestans, such as the following: (1) somatic polyploidy involving nuclear and cell fusions that generate giant nuclei; (2) diversification of nuclear phenotypes in the Malpighian tubules during insect development; (3) heterochromatin compartmentalization into large bodies with specific spatial distribution and presumed mobility in the cell nuclei; (4) chromatin remodeling and co-occurrence of necrosis and apoptosis in the Malpighian tubules under stress conditions; (5) epigenetic markers; and (6) response of heterochromatin to valproic acid, an epidrug that inhibits histone deacetylases and induces DNA demethylation in other cell systems. These cellular processes and epigenetic characteristics emphasize the role of T. infestans as an attractive model for cellular research. A limitation of these studies is the availability of insect supply by accredited insectaries. For studies that require the injection of drugs, the operator’s dexterity to perform insect manipulation is necessary, especially if young nymphs are used. For studies involving in vitro cultivation of insect organs, the culture medium should be carefully selected to avoid inconsistent results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insects Vectors of Pathogens)
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