Affordable house designs to improve health in rural Africa: a field study from northeastern Tanzania

Seidlein, Lorenz von; Ikonomidis, Konstantin; Mshamu, Salum; Nkya, Theresia Estomih; Mukaka, Mavuto; Pell, Christopher; Lindsay, Steve W.; Deen, Jacqueline; Kisinza, William; Knudsen, Jakob

doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(17)30078-5

Cited by 65 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rather than air conditioning, this can be achieved with buildings with low thermal mass and good ventilation. 32 We observed an association between environmental temperature and child growth, but further research is needed to understand the extent to which this is mediated by food security and poverty, rather than a direct biological effect. Hotter climates are generally associated with greater levels of poverty, which is related to child growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Environmental temperature and growth faltering in African children: a cross-sectional study

Tusting

Bradley

Bhatt

et al. 2020

The Lancet Planetary Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Child growth faltering persists in sub-Saharan Africa despite the scale-up of nutrition, water, and sanitation interventions over the past 2 decades. High temperatures have been hypothesised to contribute to child growth faltering via an adaptive response to heat, reduced appetite, and the energetic cost of thermoregulation. We did a cross-sectional study to assess whether child growth faltering is related to environmental temperature in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Data were extracted from 52 Demographic and Heath Surveys, dating from 2003 to 2016, that recorded anthropometric data in children aged 0-5 years, and were linked with remotely sensed monthly mean daytime land surface temperature for 2000-16. The odds of stunting (low height-forage), wasting (low weight-for-height), and underweight (low weight-forage) relative to monthly mean daytime land surface temperature were determined using multivariable logistic regression. Findings The study population comprised 656 107 children resident in 373 012 households. Monthly mean daytime land surface temperature above 35°C was associated with increases in the odds of wasting (odds ratio 1•27, 95% CI 1•16-1•38; p<0•0001), underweight (1•09, 1•02-1•16; p=0•0073), and concurrent stunting with wasting (1•23, 1•07-1•41; p=0•0037), but a reduction in stunting (0•90, 0•85-0•96; p=0•00047) compared with a monthly mean daytime land surface temperature of less than 30°C. Interpretation Children living in hotter parts of sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be wasted, underweight, and concurrently stunted and wasted, but less likely to be stunted, than in cooler areas. Studies are needed to further investigate the relationship between temperature and child growth, including whether there is a direct effect not mediated by food security, regional wealth, and other environmental variables. Rising temperature, linked to anthropogenic climate change, might increase child growth faltering in sub-Saharan Africa.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Environmental temperature and growth faltering in African children: a cross-sectional study

Tusting

Bradley

Bhatt

et al. 2020

The Lancet Planetary Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…7,8 The findings show that open eaves are the major route by which Anopheles gambiae sensu lato enters houses and that closing them or installing a ceiling below the eaves prevents a substantial proportion of the vectors from entering the living space. A pilot study 9 of modern houses in rural Tanzania showed that mosquito numbers indoors were 96% less in screened double storey buildings than outdoors, with corresponding values of 77% less in screened singlestory buildings and 23% less in traditional houses. Thus, accumulating evidence suggests that mosquito house entry can be reduced appreciably by filling or screening entry points.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How house design affects malaria mosquito density, temperature, and relative humidity: an experimental study in rural Gambia

Jatta¹,

Jawara

Bradley

et al. 2018

The Lancet Planetary Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction Unprecedented improvements in housing are occurring across much of rural sub-Saharan Africa, but the consequences of these changes on malaria transmission remain poorly explored. We examined how different typologies of rural housing affect mosquito house entry and indoor climate. Methods Five typologies of mud-block houses were constructed in rural Gambia: four were traditional designs with poorly fitted doors and one was a novel design with gable windows to improve ventilation. In each house, one male volunteer slept under a bednet and mosquitoes were collected indoors with a light trap. Typologies were rotated between houses weekly. Indoor conditions were monitored with data loggers and the perceived comfort of sleepers recorded with questionnaires. We used pyschrometric modelling to quantify the comfort of the indoor climate using the logger data. Primary measurements were mean number of Anopheles gambiae and mean temperature for each house typology. Findings In thatched-roofed houses, closing the eaves reduced A gambiae house entry by 94% (95% CI 89-97) but increased the temperature compared with thatched-roofed houses with open eaves. In houses with closed eaves, those with metal roofs had more A gambiae, were hotter (1•5°C hotter [95% CI 1•3-1•7]) between 2100h and 2300 h, and had 25% higher concentrations of carbon dioxide (211•1 ppm higher [117•8-304•6]) than those with thatched roofs. In metal-roofed houses with closed eaves, mosquito house entry was reduced by 96% (91-98) by well fitted screened doors. Improved ventilation of metal-roofed houses made them as cool as thatched houses with open eaves. Metalroofed houses with closed eaves were considered more uncomfortable than thatched ones with closed eaves. In metalroofed houses, ventilated houses were more comfortable than unventilated houses before midnight, when people retired to bed. Interpretation Closing the eaves reduced vector entry in thatched houses but increased entry in metal-roofed houses. Metal-roofed houses with closed eaves were, however, protected against malaria vectors by well fitted screened doors and were made comfortable by increasing ventilation. House designs that exclude mosquitoes and are comfortable to live in should be a priority in sub-Saharan Africa.

show abstract

“…Clearly, a better understanding of how disease transmitting mosquitoes move in this built environment would be illuminating. Recent experimental studies with rural African houses have demonstrated marked differences in the number of mosquitoes entering different typologies of houses (von Seidlein et al 2017, Jatta et al 2018. The reasons for the variation in mosquito-house entry is due to the human odours that leak from a building and the porosity of the structure.…”

Section: Basic Research On Vectors and The Built Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research agenda for preventing mosquito-transmitted diseases through improving the built environment in sub-Saharan Africa

Shenton

Addissie

Alabaster³

et al. 2019

Cities & Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mosquito-transmitted diseases are a major threat to health in sub-Saharan Africa, but could be reduced through modifications to the built environment. Here we report findings from a major workshop held to identify the research gaps in this area, namely: (1) evidence of the health benefits to changes to the built environment, (2) understanding how mosquitoes enter buildings, (3) novel methods for reducing mosquito-house entry, (4) sustainable approaches for reducing mosquito habitats, (5) case studies of micro-financing for healthy homes and (6) methods for increasing scale-up. Multidisciplinary research is essential to build out mosquito-transmitted diseases, and not build them in.

show abstract

Affordable house designs to improve health in rural Africa: a field study from northeastern Tanzania

Abstract: Ruth W Jensens Foundation, Copenhagen and Hanako Foundation, Singapore.

Cited by 65 publications

References 28 publications

Environmental temperature and growth faltering in African children: a cross-sectional study

Environmental temperature and growth faltering in African children: a cross-sectional study

How house design affects malaria mosquito density, temperature, and relative humidity: an experimental study in rural Gambia

Research agenda for preventing mosquito-transmitted diseases through improving the built environment in sub-Saharan Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About