In most educational settings or even healthcare campaigns for the general public, the only mosquito-borne disease highlighted prominently in the UK tends to be malaria, and most mosquito-borne diseases may be non-domestic in countries we’d consider HICs and with healthcare infrastructure, and yet turns out quite a few are considered now natively established in regions such as Spain, France, US, Croatia.
Currently doing a lit review on different methods of reducing populations, transmission or exposure to bites to control mosquito borne diseases, and that has more context, information and sources, but if anyone was considering doing some cause prio on types/vectors of disease we may want to work on/should consider, then here are some key mosquito-borne diseases that I feel get mentioned less.
Working on a longer write up but if it helps anyone considering wrapping their head around mosquito borne diseases, here is a short list of the most prominent diseases in terms of the burden of morbidity and mortality from worldwide disease, with a mention of endemic to HICs diseases:
Malaria
Protist Plasmodium spread by female Anopheles mosquitos
Spread directly during bites, minority spread through contaminated needles with infected blood and congenital in utero
Agnostic to most innate risk factors but sickle cell uni-recessive carriers appear to be immune, and external factors are mainly climatic region (living in endemic countries, near equator, international travel), malnutrition, working outdoors especially during evenings, working with animals
children or elderly are more susceptible
90% of malarial deaths occur in Africa south of the Sahara and most are in children under 5
Testing is recommended after suspected bites or during local outbreaks, through microscopic blood smears or RDTs (expensive but can detect small pieces of malarial parasites), or lab PCR testing (most accurate especially to determine species but highly rare, specialised and very expensive)
Prevention involves removing stagnant water, pouring oil in wells, reducing malarial breeding, spraying insecticides, barrier nets, remaining indoors and during peak mosquito periods, staying away from hotspots, and more
Currently no protective individual measures are highly effective, some very expensive chemicals (especially DEET insect repellants) are good external measures but can cause injury to living beings, and anti malarial drugs have questionable protection or cost effectiveness
Treatment depends on the type of malaria and severity of illness, and is usually artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and are typically used for chloroquine-resistant malaria
Treatments can not be given preventatively in a cheap or safe way, and have severe side effects, or contribute to resistance if incorrect treatments are given (eg chloroquine phosphates for resistant strains)
Chikungunya
Found usually in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Indian islands but infected travellers can spread further
Most common symptoms are fevers and joint pain so can be confused or mistreated as other conditions such as flu
No medication to treat chikungunya so only prevention to either limit likelihood of being bitten or having vaccinations before travels
A type of alphavirus (such as Mayaro and Ross River virus), and spreads during bites, and people with high enough levels of virus in their blood (viremia) in the first few days can transmit the virus to new mosquitos that bite them, or spread during blood exchanges such as transfusions, in utero, during organ transplants, through contaminated needles and more
The virus is not spread through touching, coughing or person to person however many fear campaigns and misinformation around it can cause isolation which further complicates access to care and can be detrimental to the social and emotional wellbeing of infected individuals
One vaccine (IXCHIQ) is available (mainly in the US for foreign travellers) but is very expensive and not approved for under 18s
Dengue fever
Of most of these diseases, dengue is the most likely to get better on its own and is usually mild, but in some people can cause severe illness
Found mainly in tropical areas, but also in Croatia, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal
Symptoms are once again vague, such as temperature, headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain and rash
Severe dengue can lead to seizures, dehydration, bleeding gums, and death
Treatment is usually resting and fluids and over the counter painkillers, but anti inflammatories such as NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen) can intensify bleeding
Dengue is also multiinfective and having dengue previously increases the risk of severe illness at reinfection
The only prevention is preventing mosquito bites, a vaccine is available but is usually limited to US and UK travellers and is only privately funded
Yellow fever
Found mainly in Africa, the South and Central America
Vaccines are much more common but still only readibly available in countries that have robust healthcare access
Aside from vaccines, the only prevention is avoiding mosquito bites, and symptoms are once again common such as temperature and headache, but can also lead to bleeding from the eyes and mouth, dark pee and jaundice
Treatment also includes over the counter painkillers and fluids, but yellow fever tends to be quite deadly in young children, those with preexisting liver conditions, and elderly
Unlike the previous disorders, the vaccine is more available (for a price) and is highly effective and safe for anyone over 9 months old, and recommendations include vaccines at least 10 days before travelling to at risk areas, and revaccination is also safe if past exposure is unknown
The prophylaxis effect is lifelong, the cost tends to be around £85 which is highly affordable for most travellers, but out of reach for most endemic countries
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
Found mainly in North America and the Caribbean and is one of the 2 most deadly mosquito-borne diseases in the US, and is closely related to Madariaga virus
Can circulate between mosquitos and birds that are near freshwater hardwood swamps, some animals (emus) can also become bridge vectors by feeding birds and humans, whilst people (and horses) are ‘dead end’ hosts as they do not spread the virus, even if they get infected. (but one case did have 3 recipients of organ transplants from an infected donor who were infected)
Prevention also relies on preventing mosquito bites, and no specific treatment exists, only pain control and hydration to try to reduce meningeal symptoms as supportive measures
West Equine Encephalitis
Very similar to EEE but most people who get infected don’t get sick, no vaccines or prevention aside from avoiding bites, and tends to cause sporadic outbreaks of disease in horses and people, but risk increases from summer to fall
St Louis Encephalitis
Very similar to previous diseases, but most people don’t display symptoms, however encephalitis complications and meningitis is common in at risk groups, and no vaccine or prevention aside from avoiding bites exists
West Nile
80% of people don’t display symptoms but about 1% develop severe CNS encephalitis and 50% of infections occur in over 60s, about 10% of those who get nervous inflammation pass away
No specific treatment or vaccine but lifelong immunity is common in healthy individuals after a past infection
Quick Take:
In most educational settings or even healthcare campaigns for the general public, the only mosquito-borne disease highlighted prominently in the UK tends to be malaria, and most mosquito-borne diseases may be non-domestic in countries we’d consider HICs and with healthcare infrastructure, and yet turns out quite a few are considered now natively established in regions such as Spain, France, US, Croatia.
Currently doing a lit review on different methods of reducing populations, transmission or exposure to bites to control mosquito borne diseases, and that has more context, information and sources, but if anyone was considering doing some cause prio on types/vectors of disease we may want to work on/should consider, then here are some key mosquito-borne diseases that I feel get mentioned less.
Working on a longer write up but if it helps anyone considering wrapping their head around mosquito borne diseases, here is a short list of the most prominent diseases in terms of the burden of morbidity and mortality from worldwide disease, with a mention of endemic to HICs diseases:
Malaria
Protist Plasmodium spread by female Anopheles mosquitos
Spread directly during bites, minority spread through contaminated needles with infected blood and congenital in utero
Agnostic to most innate risk factors but sickle cell uni-recessive carriers appear to be immune, and external factors are mainly climatic region (living in endemic countries, near equator, international travel), malnutrition, working outdoors especially during evenings, working with animals
children or elderly are more susceptible
90% of malarial deaths occur in Africa south of the Sahara and most are in children under 5
Testing is recommended after suspected bites or during local outbreaks, through microscopic blood smears or RDTs (expensive but can detect small pieces of malarial parasites), or lab PCR testing (most accurate especially to determine species but highly rare, specialised and very expensive)
Prevention involves removing stagnant water, pouring oil in wells, reducing malarial breeding, spraying insecticides, barrier nets, remaining indoors and during peak mosquito periods, staying away from hotspots, and more
Currently no protective individual measures are highly effective, some very expensive chemicals (especially DEET insect repellants) are good external measures but can cause injury to living beings, and anti malarial drugs have questionable protection or cost effectiveness
Treatment depends on the type of malaria and severity of illness, and is usually artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and are typically used for chloroquine-resistant malaria
Treatments can not be given preventatively in a cheap or safe way, and have severe side effects, or contribute to resistance if incorrect treatments are given (eg chloroquine phosphates for resistant strains)
Chikungunya
Found usually in Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Indian islands but infected travellers can spread further
Most common symptoms are fevers and joint pain so can be confused or mistreated as other conditions such as flu
No medication to treat chikungunya so only prevention to either limit likelihood of being bitten or having vaccinations before travels
A type of alphavirus (such as Mayaro and Ross River virus), and spreads during bites, and people with high enough levels of virus in their blood (viremia) in the first few days can transmit the virus to new mosquitos that bite them, or spread during blood exchanges such as transfusions, in utero, during organ transplants, through contaminated needles and more
The virus is not spread through touching, coughing or person to person however many fear campaigns and misinformation around it can cause isolation which further complicates access to care and can be detrimental to the social and emotional wellbeing of infected individuals
One vaccine (IXCHIQ) is available (mainly in the US for foreign travellers) but is very expensive and not approved for under 18s
Dengue fever
Of most of these diseases, dengue is the most likely to get better on its own and is usually mild, but in some people can cause severe illness
Found mainly in tropical areas, but also in Croatia, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal
Symptoms are once again vague, such as temperature, headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain and rash
Severe dengue can lead to seizures, dehydration, bleeding gums, and death
Treatment is usually resting and fluids and over the counter painkillers, but anti inflammatories such as NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen) can intensify bleeding
Dengue is also multiinfective and having dengue previously increases the risk of severe illness at reinfection
The only prevention is preventing mosquito bites, a vaccine is available but is usually limited to US and UK travellers and is only privately funded
Yellow fever
Found mainly in Africa, the South and Central America
Vaccines are much more common but still only readibly available in countries that have robust healthcare access
Aside from vaccines, the only prevention is avoiding mosquito bites, and symptoms are once again common such as temperature and headache, but can also lead to bleeding from the eyes and mouth, dark pee and jaundice
Treatment also includes over the counter painkillers and fluids, but yellow fever tends to be quite deadly in young children, those with preexisting liver conditions, and elderly
Unlike the previous disorders, the vaccine is more available (for a price) and is highly effective and safe for anyone over 9 months old, and recommendations include vaccines at least 10 days before travelling to at risk areas, and revaccination is also safe if past exposure is unknown
The prophylaxis effect is lifelong, the cost tends to be around £85 which is highly affordable for most travellers, but out of reach for most endemic countries
Eastern Equine Encephalitis
Found mainly in North America and the Caribbean and is one of the 2 most deadly mosquito-borne diseases in the US, and is closely related to Madariaga virus
Can circulate between mosquitos and birds that are near freshwater hardwood swamps, some animals (emus) can also become bridge vectors by feeding birds and humans, whilst people (and horses) are ‘dead end’ hosts as they do not spread the virus, even if they get infected. (but one case did have 3 recipients of organ transplants from an infected donor who were infected)
Prevention also relies on preventing mosquito bites, and no specific treatment exists, only pain control and hydration to try to reduce meningeal symptoms as supportive measures
West Equine Encephalitis
Very similar to EEE but most people who get infected don’t get sick, no vaccines or prevention aside from avoiding bites, and tends to cause sporadic outbreaks of disease in horses and people, but risk increases from summer to fall
St Louis Encephalitis
Very similar to previous diseases, but most people don’t display symptoms, however encephalitis complications and meningitis is common in at risk groups, and no vaccine or prevention aside from avoiding bites exists
West Nile
80% of people don’t display symptoms but about 1% develop severe CNS encephalitis and 50% of infections occur in over 60s, about 10% of those who get nervous inflammation pass away
No specific treatment or vaccine but lifelong immunity is common in healthy individuals after a past infection
Marburg