Triatomines: Trypanosomatids, Bacteria, and Viruses Potential Vectors?

Triatominae bugs are the vectors of Chagas disease, a major concern to public health especially in Latin America, where vector-borne Chagas disease has undergone resurgence due mainly to diminished triatomine control in many endemic municipalities. Although the majority of Triatominae species occurs in the Americas, species belonging to the genus Linshcosteus occur in India, and species belonging to the Triatoma rubrofasciata complex have been also identified in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, and in the Western Pacific. Not all of Triatominae species have been found to be infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, but the possibility of establishing vector transmission to areas where Chagas disease was previously non-endemic has increased with global population mobility. Additionally, the worldwide distribution of triatomines is concerning, as they are able to enter in contact and harbor other pathogens, leading us to wonder if they would have competence and capacity to transmit them to humans during the bite or after successful blood feeding, spreading other infectious diseases. In this review, we searched the literature for infectious agents transmitted to humans by Triatominae. There are reports suggesting that triatomines may be competent vectors for pathogens such as Serratia marcescens, Bartonella, and Mycobacterium leprae, and that triatomine infection with other microrganisms may interfere with triatomine-T. cruzi interactions, altering their competence and possibly their capacity to transmit Chagas disease.

Adolpho Lutz and the origins of medical entomology in Brazil.

Adolpho Lutz (1855-1940) formed a bridge between the Bahian Tropicalist School and post-Mansonian medicine. Before taking over as head of the São Paulo Bacteriological Institute (1893), Lutz traveled through a variety of regions and delved into various disciplines. In the 1880s, he was already arguing that leprosy was transmitted by mosquitoes. Carbuncles, cholera, and typhoid fever were then the accepted models for investigating the etiology of infectious diseases. Following the discovery of how malaria was transmitted, attention turned to hematophagous diptera. Physicians, bacteriologists, zoologists, and veterinarians reshaped the network of actors involved in the 'hunt' for the agents and transmitters of diseases, as they began relying on analogies with malaria and yellow fever. Edwin Ray Lankester, director of the British Museum (Natural History), launched then a worldwide investigation into species that might be linked to human disease. The species described by Lutz and his proposed classification system were vital to Frederick Theobald's fundamental work in medical entomology, published in the early twentieth century. In 1908, Lutz brought with him to the Oswaldo Cruz Institute a remarkable quantity of research and experiments in all branches of the newly created "tropical medicine," devoted especially to entomology.