Researchers led by Jessica G. King of the Universidade do Porto and Caetano Souto-Maior of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência created mathematical models to investigate the conditions for Wolbachia invasion and its impact on dengue transmission. They used Project Tycho dengue data from Brazil and Vietnam to calibrate their model.
Authors
Jessica G. King
Caetano Souto-Maior
Larissa M. Sartori
Rafael Maciel-de-Freitas
M. Gabriela M. Gomes
Related Project Tycho Datasets
Brazil - Dengue
Brazil - Dengue hemorrhagic fever
Brazil - Dengue without warning signs
Vietnam - Dengue
Vietnam - Dengue hemorrhagic fever
Vietnam - Dengue without warning signs
Abstract
Wolbachia has been introduced into Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to control the spread of arboviruses, such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika. Studies showed that certain Wolbachia strains (such as wMel) reduce replication of dengue viruses in the laboratory, prompting the release of mosquitoes carrying the bacterium into the field, where vectorial capacity can be realistically assessed in relation to native non-carriers. Here we apply a new analysis to two published datasets, and show that wMel increases the mean and the variance in Ae. aegypti susceptibility to dengue infection when introgressed into Brazil and Vietnam genetic backgrounds. In the absence of other processes, higher mean susceptibility should lead to enhanced viral transmission. The increase in variance, however, widens the basis for selection imposed by unexplored natural forces, retaining the potential for reducing transmission overall.
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