By Carol Clark, Emory University
For mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, the abundance of insects in places where people gather has long served as the main barometer for infection risk. A new study, however, suggests that the number of asymptomatic infections tied to a place is the key indicator for dengue risk. The role of these asymptomatic cases was underestimated, the researchers said (PNAS Nexus 2023 March, pgad024. doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad024).