Natural vertical transmission of dengue virus in Latin America and the Caribbean: highlighting its detection limitations and potential significance.

Dengue continues to be a major public health concern in Latin America and the Caribbean with many countries in the region having experienced drastic increases in the incidence of dengue over the past few years. Dengue virus is predominantly transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito via a process called horizontal transmission. However, the virus may also be transmitted from an infected female mosquito to her offspring by vertical transmission, which occurs via viral invasion of the ovary either at the time of fertilization or during oviposition. In this way, mosquitoes may become dengue virus infected before ever encountering a human host. While some researchers have reported this phenomenon and suggested it may serve as a reservoir for the dengue virus in nature, others have questioned its epidemiological significance because of the low frequency at which it has been observed. Several researchers have either altogether failed to detect it or observed its occurrence at low frequencies. However, some studies have attributed these failures to small sample sizes as well as poor sensitivities of screening methods employed. Therefore, an overview of the occurrence, significance and limitations of detection of vertical transmission of dengue virus in Aedes mosquitoes in nature within Latin America and the Caribbean will be the focus of this review.

The Others: A Systematic Review of the Lesser-Known Arboviruses of the Insular Caribbean.

The Caribbean enjoys a long-standing eminence as a popular tourist destination; however, over the years it has also amassed the sobriquet "arbovirus hotspot". As the planet warms and vectors expand their habitats, a cognizant working knowledge of the lesser-known arboviruses and the factors that influence their emergence and resurgence becomes essential. The extant literature on Caribbean arboviruses is spread across decades of published literature and is quite often difficult to access, and, in some cases, is obsolete. Here, we look at the lesser-known arboviruses of the insular Caribbean and examine some of the drivers for their emergence and resurgence. We searched the scientific literature databases PubMed and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed literature as well as scholarly reports. We included articles and reports that describe works resulting in serological evidence of the presence of arboviruses and/or arbovirus isolations in the insular Caribbean. Studies without serological evidence and/or arbovirus isolations as well as those including dengue, chikungunya, Zika, and yellow fever were excluded. Of the 545 articles identified, 122 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 42 arboviruses were identified in the literature. These arboviruses and the drivers that affect their emergence/resurgence are discussed.