Interventions can shift the thermal optimum for parasitic disease transmission.

ABSTRACT: Temperature constrains the transmission of many pathogens. Interventions that target temperature-sensitive life stages, such as vector control measures that kill intermediate hosts, could shift the thermal optimum of transmission, thereby altering seasonal disease dynamics and rendering interventions less effective at certain times of the year and with global climate change. To test these hypotheses, we integrated an epidemiological model of schistosomiasis with empirically determined temperature-dependent traits of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni and its intermediate snail host (Biomphalaria spp.). We show that transmission risk peaks at 21.7 °C (T_opt ), and simulated interventions targeting snails and free-living parasite larvae increased

SUBMITTER: Nguyen KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7980429 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature