Comparison of field-based xenodiagnosis and direct membrane feeding assays for evaluating host infectiousness to malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

• Published in: Acta tropica 2014-02, Vol.130, p.131-139
• Main Authors: Gouagna, Louis Clément, Yao, Frank, Yameogo, Bienvenue, Dabiré, Roch K., Ouédraogo, Jean-Bosco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anopheles - parasitology; Anopheles gambiae; Anopheles spp; Burkina Faso; Child; Child, Preschool; Cross-Sectional Studies; Gametocytes; Host infectiousness; Host-Parasite Interactions; Humans; Insect Vectors; Life Sciences; Malaria transmission; Malaria, Falciparum - transmission; Membrane feeding; Oocysts; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium falciparum - isolation & purification; Plasmodium falciparum - pathogenicity; Prevalence; Xenodiagnosis; Xenodiagnosis - methods
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.10.022

The infectiousness to Anopheles of 70 naturally exposed children aged 3–12 years was measured using the laboratory-based membrane feeding method (DMFA) and the field-based xenodiagnosis. •We measure host infectiousness to Anopheles mosquitoes using two approaches.•The membrane feeding method and the field-based xenodiagnosis were compared.•Both approaches used oocyst infection and infection intensity as indicators of host infectivity.•The xenodiagnosis accurately estimate host infectiousness to vectors under field conditions. Several techniques are currently being used to study host infectiousness to mosquitoes, including the experimental possibility of laboratory reared mosquitoes acquiring infections through membrane feeders or directly on host skin. Here, the relative performance of the laboratory-based membrane feeding method (DMFA) and the field-based xenodiagnosis (XD) of malaria infectious hosts using wild Anopheles mosquitoes were compared. A cross-sectional survey involving a sample of 70 children (aged 3–12 years) living in a malaria endemic area in Western Burkina Faso, was carried out to measure their infectiousness to Anopheles mosquitoes using two approaches. The first approach used the xenodiagnostic procedure in which children were exposed to mosquito bites overnight, being sleeping individually in different sentinel huts from 6pm to 6am (4 nights per child). Anopheles sp that had acquired blood-meal on each child were subsequently collected early in the morning, and examined for Plasmodium falciparum oocyst infection on day 7 post-feeding. In the second approach, the infectiousness of the same children was estimated by whole-blood membrane feeding procedure using F0 An. gambiae s.l. that emerged from field-collected larvae cohorts. In the DMFA, 41.4% of the children successfully infected at least one mosquito with the mean oocyst prevalence of only 4.6±1.1% in the 2171 mosquitoes that were examined (mean oocyst intensity: 2.0±(std error of mean) 0.3 oocysts per infected midgut). Comparatively 78.6% of children yielded oocysts infection in mosquitoes during the XD approach (Chi square=20.11, df=1; p