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11 July 2020 An Investigation of Human–Mosquito Contact Using Surveys and Its Application in Assessing Dengue Viral Transmission Risk
Panpim Thongsripong, Zhuolin Qu, Joshua O. Yukich, James M. Hyman, Dawn M. Wesson
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Abstract

Aedes-borne viral diseases such as dengue fever are surging in incidence in recent years. To investigate viral transmission risks, the availability of local transmission parameters is essential. One of the most important factors directly determining infection risk is human–mosquito contact. Yet the contact rate is not often characterized, compared with other risk metrics such as vector density, because of the limited research tool options. In this study, human–mosquito contact was assessed in two study sites in the Southern United States using self-administered standardized survey instruments. The fraction of mosquito bites attributed to important vector species was estimated by human landing sampling. The survey participants reported a significantly higher outdoor mosquito bite exposure than indoor. The reported bite number was positively correlated with outdoor time during at-risk periods. There was also a significant effect of the study site on outdoor bite exposure, possibly due to the differing vector density. Thus, the levels of human–mosquito contact in this study were influenced both by the mosquito density and human behaviors. A dengue virus transmission model demonstrated that the observed difference in the contact rates results in differential virus transmission risks. Our findings highlight the practicality of using surveys to investigate human–mosquito contact in a setting where bite exposure levels differ substantially, and serve as a basis for further evaluations. This study underscores a new avenue that can be used in combination with other field methods to understand how changes in human behavior may influence mosquito bite exposure which drives mosquito-borne virus transmission.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Panpim Thongsripong, Zhuolin Qu, Joshua O. Yukich, James M. Hyman, and Dawn M. Wesson "An Investigation of Human–Mosquito Contact Using Surveys and Its Application in Assessing Dengue Viral Transmission Risk," Journal of Medical Entomology 57(6), 1942-1954, (11 July 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjaa134
Received: 23 December 2019; Accepted: 2 June 2020; Published: 11 July 2020
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KEYWORDS
Aedes aegypti
Aedes albopictus
dengue virus
human–mosquito contact
SEIR model
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