Mosquito Archives - InnoHEALTH magazine

Mosquito Net may Prevent Malaria

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 09:02:20 +0000

A novel mosquito net that contains insecticides could prevent millions of cases of malaria, according to a Lancet study. A two-year clinical trial in West Africa involving 2000 children showed that the number of cases of clinical malaria was reduced by 12% with the new type of mosquito net compared to the conventional one used normally. Scientists including those from Durham University and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK found that sleeping under the new bed nets were 52% less likely to be moderately anemic than those with a conventional net. Malaria anemia is a major cause of mortality in children under the age of two. The nets used in the study contain a pyrethroid insecticide which repels and kills the mosquitoes as well as an insect growth regulator, pyriproxyfen, which shortens the lives of mosquitoes and reduces their ability to reproduce. In areas with the new combination bed nets, there was a 51% reduction in the risk of a malaria-infective mosquito bite compared to areas with conventional nets.

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This study is important because malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa has stalled, partly because the mosquitoes are adapting and becoming resistant to the pyrethroid insecticides used for treating the old bed nets. A trial carried out in Burkina Faso where the new types of the net, that had a pyrethroid plus an insect growth hormone, was used and it showed significant protection than the old net type.

The researchers said that if they had scaled-up their trial to the whole of Burkina Faso, they would have reduced the number of malaria cases by 1.2 million. Female Anopheles mosquitoes are increasingly becoming resistant to the most common insecticides, called pyrethroids, used to treat traditional bed nets.

Latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that after a dramatic decrease in malaria since the start of the millennium, progress has stalled, and the number of people infected with malaria is now going up in some areas, with insecticide-resistant vectors as one of the possible causes of this.

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The researchers suggest the use of bed nets with a combination of chemicals, to be explored for areas where mosquito resistance is a problem. The ingredients on the nets kill more mosquitoes and reduce the number of infective bites than conventional nets treated only with a pyrethroid. As it is less likely that mosquitoes become resistant to both chemicals in the combination bed nets, they are considered a better alternative to tackling malaria in areas where mosquitoes have become resistant to the single chemical used in traditional bed nets. The latest figures from WHO show that in 2016 malaria infected about 216 million people across 91 countries, up to five million from the previous year. The disease killed 445,000 which was about the same number as in 2015. Most deaths were in children under the age of five in the poorest parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Source: www.indiatoday.in

The post Mosquito Net may Prevent Malaria appeared first on InnoHEALTH magazine.

National Strategic Plan for Elimination of Malaria

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 06:17:45 +0000

National Strategic plan for the elimination of Malaria being implemented vigorously in India

Amid ongoing plans to eliminate malaria, experts have found the incidence of malaria in India is 0.66 cases per one thousand population last year.

Official sources say in the year 2017, reported malaria cases have declined by 23% as compared to 2016 in India.

As per the World Malaria Report 2017 of the World Health Organization (WHO), the estimated malaria cases from India are 87% in South East Asia region.

Malaria is mainly concentrated in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, and Tripura because of the inaccessible terrain – many areas get cut off post-monsoon, the presence of efficient vectors – mosquito that transmits malaria and difficult terrain because of which malaria continues to be high in many pockets.

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Global Technical Strategy (2016-30) announced by WHO and adopted by World Health Assembly in May 2015 calls for malaria elimination by 2030.

According to the Minister of State (Health and Family Welfare) Ashwini Kumar, the Government has unveiled a plan to eliminate Malaria by 2030. The National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) 2016-2030 document launched on 11th February 2016, lays out the vision, mission, broad principles and practices to achieve the target of malaria elimination by 2030 synchronizing with the Global Technical Strategy (GTS).

The Government has drafted National Strategic Plan for malaria elimination (2017-2020) wherein the country has been stratified based on the malaria burden into four categories – category 0 to category 3 and based on this the intervention of malaria control and prevention are being strengthened.

Interventions that are being strengthened are Early diagnosis and complete treatment; Case-based surveillance and rapid response; Integrated vector management; Indoor residual spray (IRS); Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs)/ Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs); Larval source management (LSM); Epidemic preparedness and early response; Monitoring & Evaluation; Advocacy, coordination and partnerships; Behavior change communication (BCC) and Community mobilization and programme planning & management.

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Forecast dengue spread

InnoHEALTH Magazine — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 08:05:41 +0000

New method developed To forecast dengue spread

By Dr. Shikha T. Malik

Given its close link with both temperature and rainfall, it is possible to forecast outbreak of dengue. But for such disease forecasting to be effective it should be based on models specific for different climatic zones in the country, a new study has shown. The study has been jointly done by the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Guwahati, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Liverpool.

Scientists have reached this conclusion after evaluating the relationship of climatic factors in the spread of dengue in different climatic zones in the country – Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala. They focused on changes in a factor called ‘extrinsic incubation period (EIP) of the dengue virus by taking into account daily and monthly mean temperatures in these areas.
The extrinsic incubation period (EIP) is the time taken for incubation of the virus in the mosquito. During this period, after the mosquito draws virus rich blood meal, the virus escapes the gut and passes through the mosquito’s body and reaches it salivary glands. Once this happens, the mosquito is infectious and capable of transmitting the virus to a human host.

It has been found that climatic conditions play an important role in EIP. Lower temperatures (17–18 °C) result in longer EIPs thereby leading to decreased virus transmission. With increasing temperatures, feeding increases because of enhanced metabolism of the mosquito, leading to shorter EIPs. Even a 5-day decrease in the incubation period can hike transmission rate by three times, and with an increase in temperature from 17 to 30 °C, dengue transmission increases fourfold. However, a further increase in temperature beyond 35 °C is detrimental to the mosquito survival.
Dr. Shikha T. Malik The researchers observed that except for Gujarat which comprises of arid regions, there was a strong correlation between rainfall and dengue disease burden.

The study found that Kerala being warm (temperature range 23.5-30°C) and wet and with short EIPs (9-14 days) experiences the highest number of dengue cases.It has been found that EIP is the shortest during the monsoon season in most states and therefore there is an enhanced risk of dengue during this time.

This climate-based dengue forecasting model could help in planning effective and efficient disease control operations well in advance and optimize the use of resources meticulously.

With changes in temperature affecting the extrinsic incubation period of the virus, future changes in the climate might have a substantial effect on dengue and other vector borne disease burden in India. “Though such methods are in vogue for disease control operations, we are still in the initial stages of implementation of such strategic control methods,” Dr Rao told India Science Wire. Factors such as population density and migration also need to be included for future risk assessment studies. The study was published in journal Emerging Microbes & Infections.

Article shared from ‘India Science Wire’

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