Ima Aparecida Braga

Aedes aegypti resistance to temephos during 2001 in several municipalities in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Sergipe, and Alagoas, Brazil

For more than 30 years temephos, an organophosphate insecticide, has been the sole larvicide used in Brazil in the control of Aedes aegypti. Organophosphates were also used for adult control, being replaced by pyrethroids since 1999. In this same year the Brazilian Health Foundation started the coordination of the Ae. aegypti Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Program. In the context of this program, our group was responsible for the detection of temephos resistance in a total of 12 municipalities in the states of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Alagoas (AL), and Sergipe (SE) during 2001. In each municipality, a pool of mosquitoes collected from different districts was used, with the exception of Rio de Janeiro city, where eight districts have been separately evaluated. Exposure of larvae to the diagnostic dose of temephos revealed resistance in all localities examined, with mortality levels ranging from 4% (Pilares district, Rio de Janeiro, RJ) to 61.9% (Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ). Quantification of mortality showed resistance ratios from 6.1 (Aracaju, SE) to 16.8 (São Gonçalo, RJ and Penha district, Rio de Janeiro, RJ). The national dengue control program is presently using these data to subside insecticide resistance management.

Aedes aegypti: histórico do controle no Brasil

A dengue tem se destacado como uma das mais importantes doencas reermegentes no mundo. No Brasil, a partir da decada de 1980, iniciou-se um processo de intensa circulacao viral, com epidemias explosivas que atingiram todas as regioes brasileiras. Atualmente, cerca de 70 por cento dos municipios brasileiros estao infestados pelo mosquito Aedes aegypti, vetor da doenca no Pais, onde circulam tres sorotipos do virus (DEN-1, DEN-2 e DEN-3). Este trabalho faz um breve relato do historico da dengue no Brasil, com enfase nas politicas e programas de controle do Aedes aegypti, desde as epidemias de febre amarela urbana do inicio do seculo XX. Os aspectos fundamentais do atual Programa Nacional de Controle da Dengue tambem sao mencionados.(AU) Dengue is presently one of the most important reemerging diseases in the world. In Brazil, since the 1980’s, there is an intense virus circulation with epidemic bursts affecting all the regions of the country. Nowadays, roughly 70% of the Brazilian municipalities are infested with the dengue vector, Aedes aegypti, and the serotypes DEN-1, DEN-2 and DEN-3 are circulating in the country. This work presents a brief historic of the disease in Brazil, emphasizing the political strategies and programs for Aedes aegypti control since the urban yellow fever epidemics in the early 1900´s. The basic aspects of the present Brazilian Dengue Control Program are also mentioned.(AU)

Aedes aegypti: inseticidas, mecanismos de ação e resistência

In Brazil, dengue is transmitted by Aedes aegypti. Aedes albopictus, a potential dengue vector, is spreading all over the country. The use of chemical insecticides is yet the main vector control component. The action of the main classes of compounds traditionally employed in Public Health is described, as well as the resistance mechanisms selected by vector populations. Alternative products, with potential to be used in the control of A. aegypti, including the biolarvicide Bti and some insect growth regulators, are also discussed. The authors aim at contributing with the rational insecticide use, taking into account the different components of the integrated control

Aedes aegypti: vigilância, monitoramento da resistência e alternativas de controle no Brasil

Summary In the 1980’s, initiates an intense dengue virus circulation with epidemic bursts all over Brazil. This study describes the current vector surveillance methodologies employed in the country and explains the context of the creation of Aedes aegypti Insecticide Resistance Monitoring Network, in 1998, part of Brazilian Dengue Control Program. It is also mentioned the control strategies adopted by the Ministry of Health as a consequence of the information obtained on the insecticide resistance status of Aedes aegypti populations. This includes the perspective of using alternative products, such as insect growth regulators.

Updating the geographical distribution and frequency of Aedes albopictus in Brazil with remarks regarding its range in the Americas

The geographical distribution of Aedes albopictus in Brazil was updated according to the data recorded across the country over the last eight years. Countrywide house indexes (HI) for Ae. albopictus in urban and suburban areas were described for the first time using a sample of Brazilian municipalities. This mosquito is currently present in at least 59% of the Brazilian municipalities and in 24 of the 27 federal units (i.e., 26 states and the Federal District). In 34 Brazilian municipalities, the HI values for Ae. albopictus were higher than those recorded for Ae. aegypti, reaching figures as high as HI = 7.72 in the Southeast Region. Remarks regarding the current range of this mosquito species in the Americas are also presented. Nineteen American countries are currently infested and few mainland American countries have not confirmed the occurrence of Ae. albopictus. The large distribution and high frequency of Ae. albopictus in the Americas may become a critical factor in the spread of arboviruses like chikungunya in the new world.

Effectiveness of Methoprene, an Insect Growth Regulator, Against Temephos-Resistant Aedes aegypti Populations from Different Brazilian Localities, Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract The susceptibility of Aedes aegypti (L.) larvae from several Brazilian populations to the juvenile hormone analog methoprene and the organophosphate insecticide temephos were investigated. Populations from Natal (northeastern region), Macapá (northern region), and Jardim América, Rio de Janeiro (southeastern region) are temephos-resistant (RR90 = 24.4, 13.3, and 15.8, respectively), whereas populations from Presidente Prudente (southeastern region) and Porto Velho (northern region) exhibit only an incipient temephos-altered susceptibility status (RR90 = 1.8 and 2.6, respectively). Biochemical assays revealed alterations of the enzymes implicated in metabolic resistance, glutathione S-transferase, mixed function oxidases and esterases, among these populations. Dose–response assays showed at most a low resistance to methoprene of all populations tested, irrespective of their temephos resistance level. However, sequential exposure of Macapá and Natal populations to temephos and methoprene indicated a potential cross-resistance when larvae are exposed to both insecticides. Nevertheless, susceptibility of the Brazilian Ae. aegypti populations to methoprene alone suggests this insect growth regulator could substitute for temephos in the control of the dengue vector in the country.

Evaluation of methoprene effect on Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) development in laboratory conditions

Several Brazilian Aedes aegypti populations are resistant to the larvicidae temephos. Methoprene, that inhibits adult emergence, is one of the alternatives envisaged by the Brazilian Dengue Control Program (PNCD). However, at Brazil vector infestation rates are measured through larvae indexes and it has been claimed that methoprene use in the field could face operational problems. In order to define a standardized protocol, methoprene effect was evaluated in laboratory conditions after continuous exposure of larvae (Rockefeller strain) to a methoprene formulation available to the PNCD. Methoprene-derived mortality occurs mainly at the pupa stage and pupa development is inversely proportional to methoprene concentration. Number and viability of eggs laid by treated and control females are equivalent. A methoprene dose-dependent delay in the development was noted; however, strong correlations were found for total mortality or adult emergence inhibition if data obtained when all control mosquitoes have emerged are compared to data obtained when methoprene-treated groups finish development. The cumulative record of total methoprene-induced mortality at the time control adults emerge is proposed for routine evaluation of field populations. Mortality of all specimens, but not of larva, could account for adult emergence inhibition, confirming the inadequacy of larvae indexes to evaluate methoprene effect.

Surveillance of Aedes aegypti: Comparison of House Index with Four Alternative Traps

Introduction The mosquito Aedes aegypti, vector of dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses, is an important target of vector control programs in tropical countries. Most mosquito surveillance programs are still based on the traditional household larval surveys, despite the availability of new trapping devices. We report the results of a multicentric entomological survey using four types of traps, besides the larval survey, to compare the entomological indices generated by these different surveillance tools in terms of their sensitivity to detect mosquito density variation. Methods The study was conducted in five mid-sized cities, representing variations of tropical climate regimens. Surveillance schemes using traps for adults (BG-Sentinel, Adultrap and MosquiTRAP) or eggs (ovitraps) were applied monthly to three 1 km2 areas per city. Simultaneously, larval surveys were performed. Trap positivity and density indices in each area were calculated and regressed against meteorological variables to characterize the seasonal pattern of mosquito infestation in all cities, as measured by each of the four traps. Results The House Index was consistently low in most cities, with median always 0. Traps rarely produced null indices, pointing to their greater sensitivity in detecting the presence of Ae. aegypti in comparison to the larval survey. Trap positivity indices tend to plateau at high mosquito densities. Despite this, both indices, positivity and density, agreed on the seasonality of mosquito abundance in all cities. Mosquito seasonality associated preferentially with temperature than with precipitation even in areas where temperature variation is small. Conclusions All investigated traps performed better than the House Index in measuring the seasonal variation in mosquito abundance and should be considered as complements or alternatives to larval surveys. Choice between traps should further consider differences of cost and ease-of-use.

Spatial and temporal country-wide survey of temephos resistance in Brazilian populations of Aedes aegypti.

The organophosphate temephos has been the main insecticide used against larvae of the dengue and yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) in Brazil since the mid-1980s. Reports of resistance date back to 1995; however, no systematic reports of widespread temephos resistance have occurred to date. As resistance investigation is paramount for strategic decision-making by health officials, our objective here was to investigate the spatial and temporal spread of temephos resistance in Ae. aegypti in Brazil for the last 12 years using discriminating temephos concentrations and the bioassay protocols of the World Health Organization. The mortality results obtained were subjected to spatial analysis for distance interpolation using semi-variance models to generate maps that depict the spread of temephos resistance in Brazil since 1999. The problem has been expanding. Since 2002-2003, approximately half the country has exhibited mosquito populations resistant to temephos. The frequency of temephos resistance and, likely, control failures, which start when the insecticide mortality level drops below 80%, has increased even further since 2004. Few parts of Brazil are able to achieve the target 80% efficacy threshold by 2010/2011, resulting in a significant risk of control failure by temephos in most of the country. The widespread resistance to temephos in Brazilian Ae. aegypti populations greatly compromise effective mosquito control efforts using this insecticide and indicates the urgent need to identify alternative insecticides aided by the preventive elimination of potential mosquito breeding sites.

Discrepancies between Aedes aegypti identification in the field and in the laboratory after collection with a sticky trap

Currently, sticky traps are regularly employed to assist in the surveillance of Aedes aegypti infestation. We tested two alternative procedures for specimen identification performed by local health agents: directly in the field, as recommended by certain manufacturers, or after transportation to the laboratory. A total of 384 sticky traps (MosquiTRAP) were monitored monthly during one year in four geographically representative Brazilian municipalities. When the same samples were inspected in the field and in the laboratory, large differences were noted in the total number of mosquitoes recorded and in the number of specimens identified as Ae. aegypti by both procedures. Although field identification has the potential to speed vector surveillance, these results point to uncertainties in the evaluated protocol.