Apropos “Vaccination for safe travel to India”

Keywords: :

• Dengue virus
• India
• international travel
• vaccinations
• Aedes aegypti
• A. albopictus

To the Editor

We endorse the viewpoint of the team of investigators from Rohtak, India regarding individualization of pre-travel vaccination schedule in accordance with the traveler's previous immunizations status before their international travel to India.¹ In our opinion, prospective travelers should also be informed about the basic features of the vectors responsible for causing dengue virus infection since prophylactic anti-dengue vaccines have not been marketed to date. Consequently, they should be educated about mosquitoes of Aedes species, A. aegypti, and A. albopictus that are responsible for infection by dengue virus.

These mosquitoes of Aedes genus are day biter, but will bite at night if there is sufficient artificial lighting. The A. aegypti usually bites at the ankles of humans.² A. albopictus are a very aggressive day-time biter, with peaks occurring during early morning or late afternoon. Generally, anti-mosquito measures are taken during the night, when repellants, insecticides, or mosquito nets are used. Despite nocturnal measure against mosquitoes, international travelers to India or other endemic areas¹ could still be exposed to bites from the Aedes group of mosquitoes.

Last but not least, the day-time protection of international travelers to endemic areas from bites of the mosquitoes of Aedes species, even after availability of prophylactic vaccines for dengue, would also protect them against yellow fever and chikungunya virus infections.

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

10.4161/hv.27481