Arthropod-borne infections
These diseases constitute a major health problem in India. Arthropods are insects that belong to phylum arthropods and are responsible for transmitting various diseases. they may infect or infest the human body by direct or indirect modes of transmission.
Types of transmission of arthropod-borne diseases
- Direct contact: here, the arthropods are directly transmitted from person to person through close contact example : Scabies.
- Mechanical transmission: transmission by vectors like houseflies is the example of mechanical transmission. various diseases like diarrhoea, typhoid , food poisoning etc are examples of mechanical transmission.
- Biological transmission: here the causative organism will undergo some developmental changes in the arthropod host itself and the disease progresses. example: Malaria (female anopheles mosquito), Plague(rat fleas)etc.
Control of arthropod borne disease:
- Environmental control:It can be achieved by elimination of breeding places, drainage operations , proper disposal of refuse and waste material as well as water management and cleanliness practices etc.
- Biological control: It can be achieved by various measures like screening of houses, hospitals, offices and use of various mosquito repellents available in the market and use of fishes like gabusia to control mosquitoes.
- Chemical control: It can be achieved by use of insecticides formulations available in the market which can be sprayed into the atmosphere to form a fog which kills the insects.
| Mosquito | Malaria, filaria, yellow fever, dengue, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis |
| Housefly | Cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea, trachoma, salmonellosis, topical ulcer, streptococcal dermatitis, nephritis, anthrax, tularemia, dysentery and poliomyelitis |
| Sand fly | Kala azar, sandfly fever, oriental sore, leishmaniasis |
| Rat flies | Bubonic plague, epidemic typhus |
| Lice | Relapsing fever, trench fever, dermatitis |
| Reduviid bugs | Chagas disease |
| Ticks | Hard ticks: tick typhus, viral encephalitis, viral fever.Soft ticks:Q fever, relapsing fever |
| Mite | Itch mites: Scabies Trombiculid mice: Scabies, Scrub typhus, Rickettsialpox. |
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