Abstract
Continuous climate changes associated with the disorderly occupation of urban areas have exposed Latin American populations to the emergence and reemergence of arboviruses transmitted by Aedes aegypti. The magnitude of the financial and political problems these epidemics may bring to the future of developing countries is still ignored. Due to the lack of effective antiviral drugs and vaccines against arboviruses, the primary measure for preventing or reducing the transmission of diseases depends entirely on the control of vectors or the interruption of human-vector contact. In Brazil the first attempt to control A. aegypti took place in 1902 by eliminating artificial sites of eproduction. Other strategies, such as the use of oviposition traps and chemical control with dichlorodiphenyltrichlorethane and pyrethroids, were successful, but only for a limited time. More recently, biotechnical approaches, such as the release of transgenics or sterile mosquitoes and the, development of transmission blocking vaccines, are being applied to try to control the A. aegypti population and/or arbovirus transmission. Endemic countries spend about twice as much to treat patients as they do on the prevention of mosquito-transmitted diseases. The result of this strategy is an explosive outbreak of arboviruses cases. This review summarizes the social impacts caused by A. aegypti-transmitted diseases, mainly from a biotechnological perspective in vector control aimed at protecting Latin American populations against arboviruses.
Highlights
Mosquitoes of the Culicidae family are considered the most dangerous animals on earth due to their capacity to transmit diseases and their medical importance regarding viruses, protozoa, and nematode transmission [1]
We demonstrate the impact caused by Aedes aegypti-borne diseases based on current literature, highlighting the history of vector control based on the major biotechnological approaches for preventing new arboviral epidemics
This study evaluated two pregnant women from the state of Pernambuco, in northeast region of Brazil, who were diagnosed with fetal microcephaly and had symptoms of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection
Summary
Mosquitoes of the Culicidae family are considered the most dangerous animals on earth due to their capacity to transmit diseases and their medical importance regarding viruses, protozoa, and nematode transmission [1]. The magnitude of climate and ecosystem changes and disorderly occupation of urban areas may increase the vulnerability of human populations to infectious disease transmission [2]. These changes have led several vectors to adapt to the urban environment [4, 5]. Carvalho and Moreira [21] reviewed the main reasons for A. aegypti having both reproductive success and being so well-adapted to the urban environment This mosquito lives in urban habitats and reproduces primarily in artificial containers [5, 6, 21, 22].
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