Fly control to prevent diarrhoea in children

Abstract

BackgroundDiarrhoeal disease accounts for millions of child deaths every year. Although the role of flies as vectors of infectious diarrhoea has been established, fly control is not often mentioned as an approach to decrease childhood diarrhoea. Theoretically, fly control for decreasing diarrhoea incidence can be achieved by intervening at four different levels: reduction or elimination of fly breeding sites; reduction of sources that attract houseflies; prevention of contact between flies and disease‐causing organisms; and protection of people, food, and food utensils from contact with flies.ObjectivesTo assess the impact of various housefly control measures on the incidence of diarrhoea and its related morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age.Search methodsWe searched electronic databases including the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and LILACS, from database inception to 24 May 2018. We also searched trial registries for relevant grey literature and ongoing trials. We checked the references of the identified studies and reviews. We did not apply any filters for language, publication status (published, unpublished, in press, and ongoing), or publication date.Selection criteriaWe planned to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs), quasi‐RCTs, and controlled before‐and‐after studies that studied the effect of fly control on diarrhoea in children under five years of age.Data collection and analysisTwo review authors extracted the data and independently assessed the risk of bias in the included study. We planned to contact study authors for additional information, where necessary. We assessed the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach.Main resultsWe included one cluster‐RCT (491 participants) conducted in Pakistan that evaluated insecticide spraying in the first two years and baited fly traps in the third year. Insecticide spraying reduced the fly population (house index) in the intervention group during the four months of the year when both flies and cases of diarrhoea were more common, but not at other times. On average, this was associated with a reduction in the incidence of diarrhoea in the first year (illustrative mean episodes per child‐year in the intervention group was 6.3 while in the control group was 7.1) and second year of the intervention (illustrative mean episodes per child‒year in the intervention group was 4.4 while in the control group was 6.5; rate ratio (RaR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67 to 0.89, low‐certainty evidence). In the third year of the intervention, the baited fly traps did not demonstrate an effect on the fly population or on diarrhoea incidence (RaR 1.15, 95% CI 0.90 to 1.47, low‐certainty evidence).Authors' conclusionsThe trial, conducted in a setting where there were clear seasonal peaks in fly numbers and associated diarrhoea, shows insecticide spraying may reduce diarrhoea in children. Further research on whether this finding is applicable to other setting is r...

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The Effectiveness of Betle Leaf (Piper betle L.) Extract as a Bio-pesticide for Controlled of Houseflies (Musca domestica L.)

“…Most of these deaths occur in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa [1], and in low-income countries [2]. Thus, controlling diarrhea is essential if the world desires to achieve sustainable development goals for child health [3]. In Indonesia, diarrhea affects 11% of children under 5 and is the second-largest cause of death [4].…”

“…The efficacy of housefly control as prevention for infectious diarrhea in community settings has long been questioned. Vector control can be accomplished by reducing or eliminating breeding sites, reducing housefly attraction sources, and preventing interaction between flies and food, food utensils, people, or disease-causing organisms [3], [6], [10], [11].…”

Dynamic Model for the Epidemiology of Diarrhea and Simulation Considering Multiple Disease Carriers

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