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Background: Dengue is a kind of infectious disease that was distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical areas. To date, there is no clinically approved dengue vaccine or antiviral for humans, even though there have been great efforts towards this end. Therefore, finding the effective compound against dengue virus (DENV) replication is very important. Among the complex compounds, copper(II)-imidazole derivatives are of interest because of their biological and medicinal benefits., Materials and Methods: In the present study, antiviral activity of [Cu(2,4,5-triphenylimidazole) 2 ] n , was evaluated against different stages of dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2) replication in Vero cell using focus forming unit reduction assay and quantitative ELISA., Results: [Cu(2,4,5-triphenylimidazole) 2 ] n inhibited DENV-2 replication in Vero cells with IC 50 = 2.3 μg/ml and SI= 19.42 when cells were treated 2 days after virus infection, whereas its CC 50 for cytotoxicity to Vero cells was 44.174 μg/ml., Conclusion: The compound has high anti-DENV2 activity, less toxicity, and a high possibility to be considered a drug candidate., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: Authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are the primary and secondary vectors, respectively, of dengue, the most important arboviral disease in the world. The aim of this study was to detect and serotype dengue viruses (DENV) in the vectors Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in Surabaya, Indonesia. Between 2008 and 2015, 16,605 Aedes mosquitoes were collected in 15 sub-districts of Surabaya. Ae. aegypti was dominant (90.9%), whereas few Ae. albopictus were collected (9.1%). A total of 330 pools of adult Aedes mosquitoes were subjected to the serotyping of DENV by RT-PCR. DENV-1 (52.3%) was the most frequently detected serotype, followed by DENV-2 (40.3%), DENV-4 (4.6%), and DENV-3 (2.8%). The average minimum infection rate for Ae. aegypti in various sub-districts of Surabaya was 7.2 per 1,000 mosquitoes, while that for Ae. albopictus was 0.7 per 1,000 mosquitoes. The results showed that the predominantly circulating DENV serotype in mosquitoes continuously shifted from DENV-2 (2008) to DENV-1 (2009-2012), to DENV-2 again (2013-2014), and then back to DENV-1 (2015). The circulating DENV serotypes in mosquitoes were generally consistent with those in humans. Therefore, the surveillance of infected mosquitoes with DENV might provide an early warning sign for the risk of future dengue outbreaks.

Background: Trenggalek district is a hypoendemic malaria area with mainly imported cases brought by migrant workers from islands outside Java. During malaria surveillance in 2015, no malaria cases were found microscopically, but some cases were positive by PCR. Therefore, a study was conducted to prove that local malaria transmission still occur., Methods: The adult villagers were invited to the house of the head of this village to be screened for malaria using aseptic venipuncture of 1 mL blood upon informed consent. Thin and thick blood films as well as blood spots on filter paper were made for each subject. The blood films were stained with Giemsa and the blood spots were used to extract DNA for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to determine the malaria infection. In addition, the history of malaria infection and travel to malaria endemic areas were recorded. Entomologic survey to detect the existence of anopheline vector was also conducted., Results: Of the total 64 subjects that participated in the survey, no malaria parasites were found through microscopic examination of the blood films. The PCR analysis found six positive cases (two Plasmodium falciparum, one Plasmodium vivax and two mixed infection of both species), and two of them had no history of malaria and have never travelled to malaria endemic area. Entomologic survey using human bait trap detected the existence of Anopheles indefinitus that was found to be positive for P. vivax by PCR., Conclusions: The results indicated that although we did not find any microscopically slide positive cases, six PCR positive subjects were found. The fact that 2 of the 6 malaria positive subjects have never travelled to malaria endemic area together with the existence of the vector confirm the occurence of local transmission of malaria in the area.

We access the molecular diversity of the black fly Simulium nobile De Mejiere, using the universal cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcoding gene, across its distributional range in Southeast Asia. Our phylogenetic analyses recovered three well-supported mitochondrial lineages of S. nobile, suggesting the presence of cryptic species. Lineage A is composed of a population from Sabah, East Malaysia (Borneo); lineage B represents the type population from Java, Indonesia; and lineage C includes populations from the mainland of Southeast Asia (Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand). The genetic variation of lineage C on the mainland is greater than that of lineages A and B on the islands of Borneo and Java. Our study highlights the value of a molecular approach in assessing species status of simuliids in geographically distinct regions., (© The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Medical and entomological surveys were conducted to determine the risk factors of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax infections on Lombok Island, Indonesia, to find the risk factors and the main mosquito vectors for each malaria. Multivariate longitudinal analysis demonstrated two significant risk factors for infection with P. falciparum: disappearance of P. vivax parasitemia (p<0.001) and a specific study site (p<0.001). In contrast, younger age (p=0.024) and the interpolated virtual density of An. subpictus (p=0.041) were significantly associated with increased risk of infection with P. vivax. Thus, it seems that the distribution of P. vivax was determined largely by the presence of An. subpictus, whilst that of P. falciparum was influenced by antagonism with P. vivax. This result shows the importance of following-up treated P. vivax patients to identify recrudescence of P. falciparum in this area.

Remote Sensing (RS), a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to analyze relationship between Anopheles subpictus larval densities and environmental parameters in the Sekotong district on Lombok Island, Indonesia. Distance from the coast to larval habitats, season and surface water were considered as environmental parameters for determining An. subpictus larval densities. Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS) Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer (VNIR) satellite imagery for the area acquired by National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) were used to detect water, which could be used to characterize larval habitats. Data on larval sampling sites obtained from a GPS were entered into a GIS for mapping larval habitats to measure distance between the coast and the larval habitats. A GIS was used for overlaying of data coverages (i.e., water distribution from RS data and larval habitats coupled with data on larval densities) to identify factors that may explain the spatial distribution patterns of larval densities. An. subpictus larval densities were significantly associated with season and distance from the coast to larval habitats. The rainy season and the distance from the coast to larval habitats were critical environmental determinants for presence of An. subpictus larvae in the study. In this paper, we investigated relationship between An. subpictus larval densities and the environmental parameters using RS/GPS/GIS to determine if these tools could be used to predict larval densities.