Human host selection by anophelines: no evidence for preferential selection of malaria or microfilariae-infected individuals in a hyperendemic area

Host selection among humans by Anopheles punctulatus was studied in an area of Papua New Guinea endemic for malaria and filariasis. Blood films were made from the stomach contents of freshly engorged mosquitoes found resting on the walls of houses in which the parasite status of the occupants was kn...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasitology 1989-06, Vol.98 (3), p.337-342
Main Authors: Burkot, T. R., Narara, A., Paru, R., Graves, Patricia M., Garner, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Analysis of Variance
Animal ethology
Animal infectious diseases
Animals
Anopheles - physiology
Anopheles punctulatus
Biological and medical sciences
Body Temperature
Child
Child, Preschool
disease vectors
Feeding Behavior
Female
filariasis
Filariasis - parasitology
Filariasis - transmission
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
host selection
Host-Parasite Interactions
host-parasite relationships
Humans
Infectious diseases
Insect Vectors - physiology
malaria
Malaria - parasitology
Malaria - transmission
Male
Medical sciences
microfilariae
Middle Aged
Plasmodium
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Tropical medicine
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Summary:Host selection among humans by Anopheles punctulatus was studied in an area of Papua New Guinea endemic for malaria and filariasis. Blood films were made from the stomach contents of freshly engorged mosquitoes found resting on the walls of houses in which the parasite status of the occupants was known. Engorgement rates on humans were non-random but could not be consistently related to the parasite status of individuals in the houses for either malaria or filaria. In some households, anophelines preferentially fed on parasitaemic individuals while in other households aparasitaemic individuals were significantly more often selected. This finding is believed to reflect the fact that malaria and filarial infections in this endemic area are predominantly asymptomatic. There were no significant differences in axillary temperatures between malaria or microfilariae positive or negative individuals.
ISSN:0031-1820
1469-8161
DOI:10.1017/S0031182000061400