Assessing the Risk of Dengue Virus Local Transmission: Study on Vector Competence of Italian Aedes albopictus
, Francesco Severini 2,†, Giulia Marsili 1, Luciano Toma 2, Antonello Amendola 1, Giulietta Venturi 1, Claudio Argentini 1, Francesca Casale 2, Ilaria Bernardini 2, Daniela Boccolini 2, Cristiano Fiorentini 1, Hapuarachchige Chanditha Hapuarachchi 3, Fabrizio Montarsi 4 and Marco Di Luca 2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Claudia Fortuna and Cristiano Fiorentini share the same initials, C.F.; please consider spelling out their names in the contribution section.
Also, for consistency, please include the initials C.H. and F.M. after the following names:
Microbiology and Molecular Epidemiology Division, Environmental Health Institute, Singapore; [email protected]
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy; [email protected]
Line 24, please correct previously in the abstract from “prevoiusly”
Please consider using a word other than Stegomyia albopicta as a keyword.
In lines 45 and 125, please change DENV1 to DENV-1; please stay consistent with naming DENV type I throughout the manuscript.
Please consider providing the Genbank accession of SG(EHI)D1/30889Y14 and an alignment map with MZ291446 to support the rationale in lines 45 and 50 of the manuscript.
Please correct the typo throughout the manuscript autocthonous to autochthonous and analysed to analyzed, titre to titer, as well as capitalize “italian” and “asian”.
Line 59, please change to reared from “were rared in the insectarium”
Line 60, please add for “a” few generations (before the test for few generations)
Lines 67 and 75 Please capitalize all words: Genetic similarity analysis and Experimental infection.
Line 71, please correct “depository” to repository (in sequence depository by using BLASTN tool) and consider rewriting and expanding on the analysis for clarity.
Line 83 reads males were trasferred to a climate chamber; please edit it to “transferred”
For lines 90 and 91, please consider rewriting this sentence for clarity:
This medium was chosen to ensure that only mosquitoes that had actually salivated were taken into consideration by detecting the aqueous saliva droplets evident in an oily medium
Lines 146 to 148, please ensure that the superscript is formatted correctly for 10 to the power 10 2 mean values of 7.6x102 PFU/mL on 14 days post-infection (dpi) and 7.4x102 PFU/mL on 28 dpi in Rome and Montecchio Maggiore, respectively. In Ae. aegypti the highest mean titre was 1.4x103 PFU/mL
Lines 202 and 203, please consider expanding the following discussion point citing references 16 and 17: Studies on the role of possible mutations responsible for better adaptation of arboviruses in Ae. albopictus have recently been conducted.
Line 228, please consider the following edit:
… mitigate the adverse impacts on human health.
Please consider replacing reference 1, entitled “Risk of dengue in Central Africa: Vector competence studies with Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations and dengue 2 virus, “ with a more comprehensive review or book on Dengue as the paper focuses on DEN2 in Africa. For example, Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever 2nd Edition by Duane J. Gubler, Eng Eong Ooi, Subhash Vasudevan, and Jeremy Farrar.
References 12 and 13 will require proper formatting.
Thank you.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Claudia Fortuna and Cristiano Fiorentini share the same initials, C.F.; please consider spelling out their names in the contribution section.
Also, for consistency, please include the initials C.H. and F.M. after the following names:
Microbiology and Molecular Epidemiology Division, Environmental Health Institute, Singapore; [email protected]
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Legnaro, Italy; [email protected]
Line 24, please correct previously in the abstract from “prevoiusly”
Please consider using a word other than Stegomyia albopicta as a keyword.
In lines 45 and 125, please change DENV1 to DENV-1; please stay consistent with naming DENV type I throughout the manuscript.
Please consider providing the Genbank accession of SG(EHI)D1/30889Y14 and an alignment map with MZ291446 to support the rationale in lines 45 and 50 of the manuscript.
Please correct the typo throughout the manuscript autocthonous to autochthonous and analysed to analyzed, titre to titer, as well as capitalize “italian” and “asian”.
Line 59, please change to reared from “were rared in the insectarium”
Line 60, please add for “a” few generations (before the test for few generations)
Lines 67 and 75 Please capitalize all words: Genetic similarity analysis and Experimental infection.
Line 71, please correct “depository” to repository (in sequence depository by using BLASTN tool) and consider rewriting and expanding on the analysis for clarity.
Line 83 reads males were trasferred to a climate chamber; please edit it to “transferred”
For lines 90 and 91, please consider rewriting this sentence for clarity:
This medium was chosen to ensure that only mosquitoes that had actually salivated were taken into consideration by detecting the aqueous saliva droplets evident in an oily medium
Lines 146 to 148, please ensure that the superscript is formatted correctly for 10 to the power 10 2 mean values of 7.6x102 PFU/mL on 14 days post-infection (dpi) and 7.4x102 PFU/mL on 28 dpi in Rome and Montecchio Maggiore, respectively. In Ae. aegypti the highest mean titre was 1.4x103 PFU/mL
Lines 202 and 203, please consider expanding the following discussion point citing references 16 and 17: Studies on the role of possible mutations responsible for better adaptation of arboviruses in Ae. albopictus have recently been conducted.
Line 228, please consider the following edit:
… mitigate the adverse impacts on human health.
Please consider replacing reference 1, entitled “Risk of dengue in Central Africa: Vector competence studies with Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations and dengue 2 virus, “ with a more comprehensive review or book on Dengue as the paper focuses on DEN2 in Africa. For example, Dengue and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever 2nd Edition by Duane J. Gubler, Eng Eong Ooi, Subhash Vasudevan, and Jeremy Farrar.
References 12 and 13 will require proper formatting.
Thank you.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We thank you for comments and corrections. We believe that your contribution enriched the manuscript and allowed us to deepen some aspects of the topic addressed in the paper.
Claudia Fortuna
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe paper by Claudia Fortuna et al, entitled "Assessing the risk of dengue virus local transmission: a study on vector competence of Italian Aedes albopictus," is an interesting and eye-opener for understanding dengue expansion in the region.
I have the following comments and suggestions.
1. The study focused on two geographically distinct Ae. albopictus populations collected from the Rome Lazio Region and Montecchio Region in Northeast Italy. It would be intriguing for the authors to enhance the study's breadth by expanding their research to a representative region of the country, thereby increasing the mosquito population in dengue-risk areas.
2. Have field studies been conducted to comprehend the mosquito's behaviors, distribution, and ecology in dengue risk areas? This could aid in identifying breeding sites and factors influencing mosquito abundance.
3. It appears that the duration of the DR is the same for 14 days in both Ae. albopictus populations from both regions. However, the DR in Ae Aegypti extends up to 21 days. What about incorporating the Vector Competence Index (VCI) to provide a comprehensive measure?
4. Could the authors elucidate how genetic variation in the two geographically distinct Ae. albopictus populations impact their susceptibility to the dengue virus?
5. How would vector competence be affected if other serotypes of dengue were imported into Europe?
6. Have you considered utilizing mathematical models to simulate and predict Ae. albopictus competence for dengue transmission?
7. Is there an ongoing surveillance program to monitor changes in the Ae. albopictus population and dengue virus prevalence in Italy?
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageMinor English editing is suggested.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We thank you for comments and corrections. We believe that your contribution enriched the manuscript and allowed us to deepen some aspects of the topic addressed in the paper.
Claudia Fortuna
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThank you very much for allowing reviewing. My suggestions are now adequately addressed. I have no further comments. Thank you.
