The influence of larval diet, body weight at imago, size of blood-meal and age on the fecundity of Culex quinquefasciatus was investigated. The mean weights of mosquitoes at adult.emergence varied significantly with larval diet. Larvae reared on liver diet grew into heavier adults, and produced more eggs than those reared on milk. The volume of blood engorged by the female mosquitoes apparently remains constant during each gonotrophic cycle. However, the number of eggs produced is a function of both the blood-meal size and age of the mosquitoes. These results were discussed in relation to the need for full knowledge of the reproductive potential of this species of filaria vectors.Resume-L'influence due regime larvaire, du polds (du corps) a imago, de la quantity due sang suce et de l'age sur la recondite de Culex quinquefasciatus a ete etudiee.Le poids moyen des moustiques quand ils emergent a l'age adulte varie considerablement selon le regime larvaire. Les larves eleve'es sur un regime de foie sont devenues des adultes pesant plus lourd et produisant un nombre plus ilevi d'oeufs que celles elevens sur un regime de lait. Le volume de sang englouti par les femelles demeure apparemment inchange tout le long de chaque cycle gonotrophique. Cependant, le nombre d'oeufs produit depend non seulement de la quantite due sang suce mais aussi de l'age physiologique des moustiques.Ces resultats ont ete examines par rapport a la necessite d'avoir une connaissance plus complete due potentiel reproductif de cette espece de vecteurs filaires.
A study to identify factors within the community that can ensure sustainable community-directed treatment (ComDT) with ivermectin compared the effectiveness of programme-designed (PD) and community-designed (CD) strategies in 37 villages in the Takum area of Nigeria. In a subset of PD villages, designated PD1, communities were asked to use the village heads as community-directed distributors (CDD), and the other communities (PD2) were asked to select female distributors, and both were instructed to use the house-to-house method of distribution. Community-designed communities, on the other hand, were asked to design their own approach. All study communities received health education, treatment guidelines, and training enabling them to determine appropriate dosage. A total of 1744 people were interviewed about their experiences after two treatment cycles. Communities preferred honest, reliable community members as CDDs, but few women were selected. The results show striking similarity between PD and CD villages in many respects. In the PD1 villages, where the programme designated the village head as CDD, the mode of distribution was changed from houseto-house to central point, and distribution took place in the compound of the village head. In the PD2 villages, where the programme speci®ed distributors should be women, the women who were selected were replaced by their male children. These changes to the original design were consistent with the local cultural norms and made the arrangement for distribution more acceptable to the people. Programmedesigned villages that used the village head as distributors performed better than those that used women, and the coverage in the former group compares well with that of CD villages. Only ®ve villages achieved coverage > 60%, but dosage was correct in most cases (87.4%). Drug shortage was the most frequent reason for non-treatment. Communities devised means for ensuring equity and fairness in sharing their limited supply and freely altered the original designs to ®t local norms and values. These changes to the original design were consistent with local norms and were acceptable to the people. The success of this strategy should be tested in other parts of Nigeria. Long-term success of ComDT, however, requires a reliable drug supply and inputs from professionals in the health system for minimal supervision. The core issues that determine sustainability of ComDT appear to be not so much in the structure, but in the process by which they are introduced. Communities will only sustain a programme where the process of implementation ®ts well with local norms and where communities are free to alter PD procedures that are inconsistent with local customs.
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