eLife (May 2018)
Predicting the likelihood and intensity of mosquito infection from sex specific Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte density
- John Bradley,
- Will Stone,
- Dari F Da,
- Isabelle Morlais,
- Alassane Dicko,
- Anna Cohuet,
- Wamdaogo M Guelbeogo,
- Almahamoudou Mahamar,
- Sandrine Nsango,
- Harouna M Soumaré,
- Halimatou Diawara,
- Kjerstin Lanke,
- Wouter Graumans,
- Rianne Siebelink-Stoter,
- Marga van de Vegte-Bolmer,
- Ingrid Chen,
- Alfred Tiono,
- Bronner Pamplona Gonçalves,
- Roland Gosling,
- Robert W Sauerwein,
- Chris Drakeley,
- Thomas S Churcher,
- Teun Bousema
Affiliations
- John Bradley
- ORCiD
- MRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Will Stone
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Dari F Da
- Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Direction, Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
- Isabelle Morlais
- Institut de recherche pour le développement, MIVEGEC (UM-CNRS 5290-IRD 224), Montpellier, France
- Alassane Dicko
- Malaria Research and Training Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
- Anna Cohuet
- Institut de recherche pour le développement, MIVEGEC (UM-CNRS 5290-IRD 224), Montpellier, France
- Wamdaogo M Guelbeogo
- Malaria Research and Training Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
- Almahamoudou Mahamar
- Institut de recherche pour le développement, MIVEGEC (UM-CNRS 5290-IRD 224), Montpellier, France
- Sandrine Nsango
- Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, Université de Douala, Douala, Cameroon
- Harouna M Soumaré
- Institut de recherche pour le développement, MIVEGEC (UM-CNRS 5290-IRD 224), Montpellier, France
- Halimatou Diawara
- Institut de recherche pour le développement, MIVEGEC (UM-CNRS 5290-IRD 224), Montpellier, France
- Kjerstin Lanke
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Wouter Graumans
- ORCiD
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Rianne Siebelink-Stoter
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Marga van de Vegte-Bolmer
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Ingrid Chen
- Global Health Group, Malaria Elimination Initiative, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
- Alfred Tiono
- Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
- Bronner Pamplona Gonçalves
- Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Roland Gosling
- Global Health Group, Malaria Elimination Initiative, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, United States
- Robert W Sauerwein
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Chris Drakeley
- ORCiD
- Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- Thomas S Churcher
- ORCiD
- MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
- Teun Bousema
- ORCiD
- Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Immunology and Infection, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.34463
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 7
Abstract
Understanding the importance of gametocyte density on human-to-mosquito transmission is of immediate relevance to malaria control. Previous work (Churcher et al., 2013) indicated a complex relationship between gametocyte density and mosquito infection. Here we use data from 148 feeding experiments on naturally infected gametocyte carriers to show that the relationship is much simpler and depends on both female and male parasite density. The proportion of mosquitoes infected is primarily determined by the density of female gametocytes though transmission from low gametocyte densities may be impeded by a lack of male parasites. Improved precision of gametocyte quantification simplifies the shape of the relationship with infection increasing rapidly before plateauing at higher densities. The mean number of oocysts per mosquito rises quickly with gametocyte density but continues to increase across densities examined. The work highlights the importance of measuring both female and male gametocyte density when estimating the human reservoir of infection.
Keywords