Population biology of malaria within the mosquito: density-dependent processes and potential implications for transmission-blocking interventions.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The combined effects of multiple density-dependent, regulatory processes may have an important impact on the growth and stability of a population. In a malaria model system, it has been shown that the progression of Plasmodium berghei through Anopheles stephensi and the survival of the mosquito both depend non-linearly on parasite density. These processes regulating the development of the malaria parasite within the mosquito may influence the success of transmission-blocking interventions (TBIs) currently under development.

Methods

An individual-based stochastic mathematical model is used to investigate the combined impact of these multiple regulatory processes and examine how TBIs, which target different parasite life-stages within the mosquito, may influence ove

SUBMITTER: Churcher TS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2988043 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature