Circulation of malaria and arboviruses in the Solomon Islands

Abstract [Related Publication]: Across the Pacific, and including in the Solomon Islands, outbreaks of arboviruses such as dengue, chikungunya, and Zika are increasing in frequency, scale and impact. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne disease have the potential to overwhelm the health systems of small island nations. This study mapped the seroprevalence of dengue, Zika, chikungunya and Ross River viruses in 5 study sites in the Solomon Islands and evaluated potential risk factors for infection. Serum samples from 1,021 participants were analysed by ELISA. Overall, 56% of participants were flavivirus-seropositive for dengue (28%), Zika (n=1%) or both flaviviruses (n=276); and 53% of participants were alphavirus-seropositive for chikungunya (3%), Ross River virus (31%) or both alphaviruses (18%). Seroprevalence for both flaviviruses and alphaviruses varied by village and age of the participant. The high seroprevalence of DENV does suggests that natural population immunity is still the main control mechanism for arboviruses in the Solomon Islands. There is a real need to increase the diagnostic capacities for each of the arboviruses to support effective case management and to provide timely information to inform vector control efforts. The Solomon Islands remains vulnerable to outbreaks of DENV, ZIKV and CHIKV, and likely has ongoing transmission of RRV. To prevent and prepare for future outbreaks, priority actions include understanding the vectors’ behaviours of the Aedes vectors for DENV, ZIKV and CHIKV as well as the Culex vectors for RRV.

The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

【相关出版物摘要】
跨太平洋地区（含所罗门群岛）内，登革热、基孔肯雅热、寨卡等虫媒病毒（arbovirus）的暴发频率、规模与影响均呈上升趋势。蚊媒疾病暴发有可能压垮小型岛国的医疗卫生系统。本研究针对所罗门群岛5个研究地点的登革病毒（dengue virus）、寨卡病毒（Zika virus）、基孔肯雅病毒（chikungunya virus）及罗斯河病毒（Ross River virus）的血清流行率开展了分析，并评估了感染的潜在危险因素。研究人员通过酶联免疫吸附试验（Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, ELISA）对1021名参与者的血清样本进行了检测。

总体而言，56%的参与者为黄病毒（flavivirus）血清阳性：其中登革病毒阳性占28%，寨卡病毒阳性占1%（n=1），两种黄病毒均阳性者共276例（n=276）；另有53%的参与者为甲病毒（alphavirus）血清阳性：其中基孔肯雅病毒阳性占3%，罗斯河病毒阳性占31%，两种甲病毒均阳性者占18%。黄病毒与甲病毒的血清流行率随研究村庄及参与者年龄的不同而存在差异。

登革病毒的高血清流行率确实表明，自然人群免疫仍是所罗门群岛虫媒病毒的主要防控机制。当前亟需提升各类虫媒病毒的检测能力，以支持高效的病例管理，并为媒介防控工作及时提供决策依据。所罗门群岛仍面临登革病毒（DENV）、寨卡病毒（ZIKV）及基孔肯雅病毒（CHIKV）的暴发风险，且可能存在罗斯河病毒（RRV）的持续传播。为防范并应对未来的暴发疫情，优先行动需明确登革病毒、寨卡病毒、基孔肯雅病毒的传播媒介伊蚊（Aedes），以及罗斯河病毒的传播媒介库蚊（Culex）的行为特征。

完整研究方法可通过下方相关出版物链接中的开放获取文献获取。