Effect of ABO and Rh blood groups on host preference, oviposition success, and development of laboratory‑reared Aedes aegypti

Abstract

Aedes aegypti is the primary dengue vector in Sri Lanka that causes the massive public health problem of Dengue Fever (DF) and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) on the island. It is an anthropophilic mosquito that shows preferential feeding depending on the host blood type. Hence, the study was conducted to investigate the effects of human ABO and Rh blood groups on host attractiveness, feeding, oviposition and other life-history traits of Aedes aegypti. Data of DF and DHF patients were collected from some selected hospitals in the Western province. Subsequently, mated female Ae. aegypti mosquitoes were exposed to eight blood groups (A − , A + , B − , B + , AB − , AB + , O − , O + ) using human volunteers to investigate the land- ing and feeding preferences. Furthermore, oviposition success, adult longevity, progeny longevity, larval duration, larval mortality, pupal duration, and adult fecundity were examined. Accordingly, people with the O + blood group were the most typical group infected with DF and DHF in 2017 and 2018. However, the peak landing and feeding preferences were observed for O − . Besides, the current findings indicated that human ABO and Rh blood types did not significantly affect life-history parameters including oviposition success, larval duration, pupal duration, larval mortality, adult longevity, progeny longevity, and fecundity of Ae. aegypti. Eventually, it can be concluded that dengue infection risk varies with the ABO and Rh blood groups depending on their unequal prevalence in the community as well as their association with mosquito performance.