Dynamic modelling of personal protection control strategies for vector-borne disease limits the role of diversity amplification

Abstract

Personal protection measures, such as bed nets and repellents, are important tools for the suppression of vector-borne diseases like malaria and Zika, and the ability of health agencies to distribute protection and encourage its use plays an important role in the efficacy of community-wide disease management strategies. Recent modelling studies have shown that a counterintuitive diversity-driven amplification in community-wide disease levels can result from a population's partial adoption of personal protection measures, potentially to the detriment of disease management efforts. This finding, however, may overestimate the negative impact of partial personal protection as a result of implicit restrictive model assumptions regarding host compliance, access to and longevity of protection measures. We establish a new modelling methodology for incorporating community-wide personal protection distribution programmes in vector-borne disease systems which flexibly accounts for compliance, access, longevity and control strategies by way of a flow between protected and unprotected populations. Our methodology yields large reductions in the severity and occurrence of amplification effects as compared to existing models.

Perspectives of vector management in the control and elimination of vector-borne zoonoses

“…Behavioral manipulation can be directed at humans, animals or the vectors involved ( Ault, 1994 ). For example, community members can be trained to practice good sanitary measures around their housing compound, set up barrier proofing against mosquitoes (such as usage of bed net and mosquito screens), and employs personal protection when exploring places with high vector density ( Demers et al, 2018 ; Wilson et al, 2020 ). Zooprophylaxis can be employed to distract vectors from biting humans (or animals that serve as natural reservoirs of the targeted pathogen), by introducing another animal with similar or better feeding attractiveness to the targeted vectors ( Charlwood et al, 1985 ; Sousa et al, 2001 ).…”

Personal protective strategies for dengue disease: Simulations in two coexisting virus serotypes scenarios

“…Our epidemiological model splits human population into two main compartments: one for the population that uses protective equipment (protected population) and one for the other persons (unprotected population). These divided human compartments are based in the work of Demers et al [9]. According to the previous authors [9], personal protection should be a control strategy operated and promoted by a National Health Agency.…”

“…These divided human compartments are based in the work of Demers et al [9]. According to the previous authors [9], personal protection should be a control strategy operated and promoted by a National Health Agency. The use of mosquito repellents, protective clothing, and mosquito nets are important measures of personal protection against dengue.…”

The Global Distribution and Burden of Dengue and Japanese Encephalitis Co-Infection in Acute Encephalitis Syndrome

“…Therefore, to design an effective vaccine for co-infection, there is a need to understand the mechanism and probability of sero-cross-reactivity among the viruses. Apart from the vaccination, the personal preventive measures are always the paramount to prevent any vector-borne infections [42]. To prevent the mosquito biting, several protective measures include mosquito repellents, mosquito nets, and use of full sleeves cloths [43].…”