The objective of this study was to investigate the use of novel surveillance tools in a malaria endemic region where prevalence information is limited. Specifically, online reporting for participatory epidemiology was used to gather information about malaria spread directly from the public. Individuals in India were incentivized to self-report their recent experience with malaria by micro-monetary payments.
Bhutan has achieved a major reduction in malaria incidence amid multiple challenges. This case study seeks to characterize the Bhutan malaria control programme over the last 10 years.
Transmission intensity affects almost all aspects of malaria epidemiology and the impact of malaria on human populations. Maps of transmission intensity are necessary to identify populations at different levels of risk and to evaluate objectively options for disease control. To remain relevant operationally, such maps must be updated frequently. Following the first global effort to map Plasmodium falciparum malaria endemicity in 2007, this paper describes the generation of a new world map for the year 2010.
Rainfall variability and associated remote sensing indices for vegetation are central to the development of early warning systems for epidemic malaria in arid regions. The considerable change in land-use practices resulting from increasing irrigation in recent decades raises important questions on concomitant change in malaria dynamics and its coupling to climate forcing.
Anopheles culicifacies is the major vector of both falciparum and vivax malaria in Sri Lanka, while Anopheles subpictus and certain other species function as secondary vectors. In Sri Lanka, An. culicifacies is present as a species complex consisting of species B and E, while An. subpictus exists as a complex of species A-D. The freshwater breeding habit of An. culicifacies is well established.
Research on sterile mosquito technology from 1955 to the 1980s provided a substantial body of knowledge on propagation and release of sterile mosquitoes. Radiation sterilisation and chemosterilisation have been used effectively to induce dominant lethality and thereby sterilise important mosquito vectors in the laboratory.
'Wallpapering' huts with sheeting made from insecticide-treated plastic could be a new tool for malaria control, research in Benin shows. When used in combination with insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) in hut trials, the sheeting killed all mosquitoes, and completely prevented bites.
Researchers in Cameroon, led by Judith Anchang-Kimbi of the University of Buea, have found that testing placental tissue shortly after birth is the best way to accurately diagnose malaria in pregnant women. Medical staff across Sub-Saharan Africa have struggled to diagnose specific types of malaria parasites in pregnant women, who face significant health risks.
Research from a savannah area in Mali shows that satellites can reveal the environmental factors that trigger the biological cycles of both the Plasmodium falciparum parasite and its host the Anopheles mosquito. Remote sensing data of vegetation accurately predicted climate trends affecting both the parasite and the mosquito and could therefore forecast the severity of a malaria outbreak.
