ArticlePloS one2019
Sex-biased parasitism in vector-borne disease: Vector preference?
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 12 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Host Traits and Avian Malaria Parasites: Understanding the Intrinsic Connections.Integrative zoology · 2026Article
- How do parasites and predators choose their victim? A trade-off between quality and vulnerability across antagonistic interactions.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Do positions in individual-based ectoparasite-small mammal networks differ between female and male hosts?Parasitology research · 2025Article
- Location and timing of infection drives a sex-bias inParasitology · 2024Article
- Male-Biased Parasitism of Brandt's Voles (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Immunological characterization of a VIR protein family member (VIR-14) in Plasmodium vivax-infected subjects from different epidemiological regions in Africa and South America.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Review
- Simultaneous Infection ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Surveillance data for human leishmaniasis indicate the need for a sustainable action plan for its management and control, Greece, 2004 to 2018.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2021Article
- Sex-biased polyparasitism in moose (International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2020Article
- Mosquito Behavior and Vertebrate Microbiota Interaction: Implications for Pathogen Transmission.Frontiers in microbiology · 2020Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sex-biased infections are a recurrent observation in vertebrates. In many species, males are more parasitized than females. Two potentially complementary mechanisms are often suggested to explain this pattern: sexual differences in susceptibility mainly caused by the effect of sex hormones on immunity and differential exposure to parasites. Exposure is mostly a consequence of host behavioural traits, but vector-borne parasitic infections involve another degree of complexity due to the active role of vectors in transmission. Blood-sucking insects may make choices based on cues produced by hosts. Regarding malaria, several studies highlighted a male-biased infection by Plasmodium sp in great tits (Parus major). We hypothesize that the mosquito vector, Culex pipiens, might at least partially cause this bias by being more attracted to male birds. Intrinsic variation associated to bird sex would explain a preference of mosquitoes for males. To test this hypothesis, we provide uninfected mosquitoes with a choice between uninfected male and female nestlings. Mosquito choice is assessed by sex typing of the ingested blood. We did not observe any preference for a given sex. This result does not support our prediction of a preference of mosquitoes for male great tits during the nestling period. In conclusion, mosquitoes do not seem to have an intrinsic preference for male nestlings. However, sexually divergent traits (e.g. behaviour, odour, metabolic rate) present in adults may play a role in the attraction of mosquitoes and should be investigated.
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