Journal of Vector Borne Diseases

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Malaria remains a complex challenge in India due to its diverse epidemiology, multi-ethnic population, and multiplicity of malaria vectors. While progress has been made in reducing malaria nationally, persistent pockets hinder elimination efforts. These challenges include hidden reservoirs, inadequate healthcare, suboptimal surveillance, non-compliance, and subclinical infections. Shortage of grassroot level and primary care health staff, transportation issues and general inaccessibility and unavailability of healthcare services are additional challenges...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Surveillance of canine leishmaniasis in Colombia is restricted to the appearance of visceral leishmaniasis cases in humans, and is mainly performed by serological tests. This requires blood sampling by veterinarians or technicians according to Colombian laws. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of conjunctival swabs in the molecular detection of Leishmania in dogs from the municipality of Ovejas, Sucre. METHODS: The present study was cross-sectional, descriptive...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Amphotericin B, Allopurinol, Glucantime and Beta-Glucan are the main drugs currently used for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. In present study, we evaluated the effect of medical leeches on BALB/c mice models infected with Leishmania parasites. METHODS: To create animal models of leishmaniasis, BALB/c mice were inoculated with the standard Leishmania major strain MRHO / IR / 75 / ER. Treatment was performed through blood sampling with leeches...

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BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Although associated with conflict, epidemic typhus was endemic across Europe into the modern period. The extent of the problem it caused is uncertain as record keeping for those socio-economic groups most affected was rare. Google's Ngram Viewer details the frequency of word usage in written language over time. The objective was to examine whether use of the word typhus reflected potential patterns in epidemic typhus. METHODS: The frequency the word 'typhus' was used in British English was studied between 1800 and 2019 and trends examined...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Malaria is one of the most critical public health problem globally as well as nationally. Recent times have seen an increase in the importance of the possible effects of environmental and demographic factors on the local transmission of malaria. We conducted a community-level study between urban and rural areas to find out the factors associated with malaria infection. METHODS: A community based observational cross-sectional study was conducted between October 2020 to September 2022 among 330 households from urban area of Chetla, Kolkata and rural areas of Singur district of West Bengal...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The human blood parasite Leishmania donovani causes visceral leishmaniasis or grayish discoloration of the skin (black fever/kala-azar). Antitumor drugs such as daunorubicin and etoposide can help to treat such diseases. The computational approach is used to find the better interaction of drugs with the active site of the protein and help to design new drugs. METHODS: In this study, we have optimized two antitumor drugs daunorubicin and etoposide...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The battle against malaria has witnessed remarkable progress in recent years, characterized by increased funding, the development of life-saving tools, and a significant reduction in disease prevalence. Yet, the formidable challenge of drug resistance persists, threatening to undo these gains. METHODS: To tackle this issue, it is imperative to identify new effective drug candidates against the malaria parasite and exhibit minimal toxicity...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The distribution of sandflies is influenced by several climatic factors, like winter temperature limits, summer humidity, and drought. Only a few studies were performed to search for the connection between the physiological tolerance of sandflies and the result of the Climate Envelope Models projected distribution borders. METHODS: It was studied how the depth of rodent burrows could determine the occurrence of five European Phlebotomus species based on their known physiological cold tolerances...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Vector-borne diseases pose substantial global health challenges, with a notable impact in India as well. Effective vector control strategies are crucial to mitigating these diseases as there are no effective vaccines available. Synthetic chemicals are widely used but concerns about safety and environmental impact have prompted exploration of alternative, natural solutions. Unani medicine offers a potential source of natural products. This study aims to systematically review classical Unani texts and contemporary scientific literature to evaluate the vector control potential of Unani medicines...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to see how well an AI language model called Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) assisted healthcare personnel in selecting relevant medications for filariasis therapy. A team of medical specialists and tropical medicine experts reviewed ChatGPT's recommendations for ten hypothetical filariasis clinical situations. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to look at the effectiveness of an AI language model called Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (ChatGPT) in supporting healthcare providers in picking appropriate drugs for filariasis treatment...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Vector borne haemoprotozoan diseases comprise diverse group of single celled organism transmitted by haematophagus invertebrates. The current study was aimed at identification of major haemoprotozoan (Babesia, Theileria and Trypanosoma) in dromedary camel of North Gujarat region using microscopy and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). METHODS: A total of 234 blood samples were screened by the microscopic and molecular detection assays. Molecular prevalence studies of Theileria, Trypanosoma spp and Babesia was undertaken using 18s ribosomal DNA, RoTat 1...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Peptides isolated from different sources of plants have the advantages of specificity, lower toxicity, and increased therapeutic effects; hence, it is necessary to search for newer antivirals from plant sources for the treatment of dengue viral infections. METHODS: In silico screening of selected plant peptides against the non-structural protein 1, NS3 protease domain (NS2B-NS3Pro) with the cofactor and ATPase/Helicase domain (NS3 helicase domain/NS3hel) of Dengue virus was performed...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The correct association between Plasmodium falciparum parasite density and the cellular constituents of blood is not known in entirety in Nigerian children. Thus, we decided to study the association between cellular blood constituents and malaria parasite density in malaria infected children attending a Nigerian hospital. METHODS: A study of all the children diagnosed with malaria fever at the Paediatric out-patient clinic, Cedar Crest Hospital, Abuja...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus mosquitoes breed in natural and artificial containers, and they transmit dengue and chikungunya. Therefore, a study was conducted to identify the contribution of bamboo stumps to these disease vectors that were used in the flower garden as pillars to hold the bamboo flex fence. METHODS: Two sizes of whole bamboo were used to hold fences around gardens at Dhaka University, Bangladesh, and they were painted red and green...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Leishmaniasis is caused by various species of Leishmania. Approximately 20 of them are pathogenic to mammals. In Sri Lanka, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an established vector-borne disease. CL originates and spreads mainly through sand fly bite in many endemic countries. Objective of the present study was to compare the geographical distribution and demographic features of CL cases in 2014 and 2016 in Hambantota district, Sri Lanka. METHODS: The patients who were presented to the Tangalle Base Hospital from June to December in 2014 and 2016 were examined and a descriptive study was carried out using a structured-questionnaire...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Vector-borne infectious diseases contribute significantly to global mortality, with over 700,000 annual deaths, and malaria alone accounts for more than 400,000 of these fatalities. Anopheles gambiae, a prominent mosquito species, serves as a primary vector for transmitting malaria to humans. To address this issue, researchers have identified the D1-like dopamine receptor (DAR), specifically DOP2, as a promising target for developing new insecticides. METHODS: The three-dimensional structure of DOP2 from A...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: The range of Aedes albopictus, the most important vector mosquito in Western Eurasia is growing due to climate change. However, it is not known how it will influence the habitats occupied by the species and its environmental fitness within its future range. METHODS: To study this question, the habitat characteristic of the mosquito was investigated for 2081-2100. RESULTS: The models suggest a notable future spread of the mosquito in the direction of Northern Europe and the parallel northward and westward shift of the southern and eastern potential occurrences of the mosquito...

Dengue fever is one of the most widespread vector-borne viral infections in the world, resulting in increased socio-economic burdens. The WHO has reported that 2.5 billion people are infected with dengue fever across the world, resulting in high mortalities in tropical and subtropical regions. The current article endeavors to present an overview of predicting dengue outbreaks through data-based machine-learning models. This artificial intelligence model uses real-world data such as dengue surveillance, climatic variables, and epidemiological data and combines big data with machine learning algorithms to forecast dengue...

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Sand flies are insects vector associated with terrestrial forest ecosystems; in the Ecuadorian Andes, they participate in the transmission of human cutaneous leishmaniasis. This geographical area is an opportunity to evaluate the role of sand flies as bioindicators od the degree of intervention of a tropical humid forest ecosystems (THF) associated with changes in the ecology of the local landscape. METHODS: CDC-light traps were used for collecting adults' sand flies in February 2020 in a humid tropical forest within Choco Biosphere Reserve...