Housing quality improvement is associated with malaria transmission reduction in Costa Rica

Chaves, Luis Fernando; Rojas, Melissa Ramírez; Jiménez, Sandra Delgado; Prado, M. J. B. A.; Rodríguez, Rodrigo Marín

doi:10.1016/j.seps.2020.100951

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…aegypti . Similarly, these results suggest that communities with lower quality housing are candidates to engage in programs aiming to improve housing quality, in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (UN global goals to achieve a sustainable future by 2030) and evidence about the association of housing quality improvement and reduced vector-borne disease transmission [ 63 , 64 , 65 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

The Eco-Bio-Social Factors That Modulate Aedes aegypti Abundance in South Texas Border Communities

Juarez

Garcia-Luna

Medeiros

et al. 2021

Insects

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Aedes aegypti control requires dedicated resources that are usually scarce, limiting the reach and sustainability of vector control programs. This generates a need to focus on areas at risk of disease transmission and also understand the factors that might modulate local mosquito abundance. We evaluated the eco-bio-social factors that modulate indoor and outdoor relative abundance of female Ae. aegypti in communities of South Texas. We conducted housing quality and Knowledge Attitudes and Practices surveys in households that were part of a weekly mosquito surveillance program in November of 2017 and 2018. Our results showed widespread knowledge of mosquitoes and Zika virus by our participants. However, less than 35% considered them as serious problems in this region. The presence of window-mounted air conditioning units increased the risk of female mosquito relative abundance indoors. An increase in outdoor relative abundance was associated with larger properties and a higher number of children between 6 to 17 years of age. Interestingly, we observed that an increasing number of children <5 years of age modulated both indoor and outdoor relative abundance, with a 52% increase indoors and 30% decrease outdoors. The low perception of mosquito and disease risk highlights engagement needs for vector-borne disease prevention in this region. The identified risk factors can help guide public health officials in their efforts to reduce human and vector contact.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

The Eco-Bio-Social Factors That Modulate Aedes aegypti Abundance in South Texas Border Communities

Juarez

Garcia-Luna

Medeiros

et al. 2021

Insects

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“…The reduction in malaria incidence is mainly due to the efforts made in the prevention and treatment of malaria infection and the rapid change in living conditions with socio-economic developments, as individuals spend more on lifestyle changes [4]. Evidence has revealed that improvements in living conditions and housing structure have contributed to malaria prevention [5,6]. A multi-country survey showed the odds of malaria infection was reduced by 9-14% for modern housing compared with traditional and poorly constructed houses and lower income increased risk of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence of asymptomatic malaria infection and living conditions in the lowlands of Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

2022

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Background A significant decline in malaria burden was documented in previously high burden African countries. Even though the global decline in malaria burden is significant, about 95% of it was typically found in 29 African countries and the decline was affected by COVID-19 in 2020. The considerable reduction in malaria incidence was noted due to effective prevention and treatment efforts, and rapid changes in living conditions. The relationship between the occurrence of asymptomatic malaria infection and household living conditions is well unstudied. This study aimed to determine the association between household living conditions and the occurrence of asymptomatic malaria in the lowlands of Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2021 in twelve villages of Gambella, Southern Nation Nationalities and People Region and Afar in Ethiopia. A total of 1366 households were randomly selected, interviewed, and tested for malaria by rapid diagnostic test and blood film microscopic examination. Multiple logistic regression model was used to determine the independent association between living conditions and asymptomatic malaria infection. Results The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection among individuals living in dwellings built with traditional floor/wall/roof ranges from 8.1% to 8.4% while it ranges from 2.0% to 4.6% among those living in modern floor/wall/roof houses. Dwellings built with traditional wall materials (P = 0.050), spending nights with cattle in the same house (P < 0.001), and availability of kitchen in the main house with no partition (P = 0.004) were significantly associated with asymptomatic malaria infection. Conclusions Asymptomatic malaria infection was 4.3 times higher among occupants residing in dwellings built with traditional wall materials; 5.6 times higher among households spending nights with cattle in the same house, and 2.3 times higher among households with kitchen in the main house with no partition. Therefore, policies and strategies on malaria elimination need to address or target improvements of the above listed living conditions for the community. A multi sectoral action is required to use these social determinants as a vector control strategic addition; and malaria elimination programs are expected to coordinate the implementation.

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“…However, part of the difference could also be related to historical patterns in the social development of southwestern Costa Rica. This area, where oil palm plantations are concentrated, has historically seen low malaria transmission [ 32 , 38 ]. The development and settlement of oil palm plantations occurred when the Costa Rican state was engaged in the development of a social welfare state where plantation workers had access to decent housing, i.e., housing built of materials, and with characteristics, that reduce exposure to mosquito bites [ 32 ] and access to basic healthcare and other services [ 101 ], which seems privileged when compared with current working conditions at pineapple plantations in northern Costa Rica, which have been promoted by a neoliberal economic context [ 80 ] whose tendencies to impose austerity in public health investment have been associated with the emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne diseases globally [ 99 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, Costa Rica is on the verge of eliminating the disease. This malaria elimination is the result of several control efforts, where elimination has been accelerated following changes in the treatment coupled with mass drug administration campaigns [ 30 , 31 ] and housing quality improvement [ 32 ]. Nevertheless, since 2016, malaria cases re-emerged given the transboundary movements of pineapple plantation workers from Nicaragua [ 30 ], and illegal gold mining in the Crucitas district of San Carlos county [ 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae) Ensemble Distribution Modeling: Applications for Malaria Elimination

Rhodes

Loaiza

Romero

et al. 2022

Insects

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In the absence of entomological information, tools for predicting Anopheles spp. presence can help evaluate the entomological risk of malaria transmission. Here, we illustrate how species distribution models (SDM) could quantify potential dominant vector species presence in malaria elimination settings. We fitted a 250 m resolution ensemble SDM for Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann. The ensemble SDM included predictions based on seven different algorithms, 110 occurrence records and 70 model projections. SDM covariates included nine environmental variables that were selected based on their importance from an original set of 28 layers that included remotely and spatially interpolated locally measured variables for the land surface of Costa Rica. Goodness of fit for the ensemble SDM was very high, with a minimum AUC of 0.79. We used the resulting ensemble SDM to evaluate differences in habitat suitability (HS) between commercial plantations and surrounding landscapes, finding a higher HS in pineapple and oil palm plantations, suggestive of An. albimanus presence, than in surrounding landscapes. The ensemble SDM suggested a low HS for An. albimanus at the presumed epicenter of malaria transmission during 2018–2019 in Costa Rica, yet this vector was likely present at the two main towns also affected by the epidemic. Our results illustrate how ensemble SDMs in malaria elimination settings can provide information that could help to improve vector surveillance and control.

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Housing quality improvement is associated with malaria transmission reduction in Costa Rica

Cited by 12 publications

References 51 publications

The Eco-Bio-Social Factors That Modulate Aedes aegypti Abundance in South Texas Border Communities

The Eco-Bio-Social Factors That Modulate Aedes aegypti Abundance in South Texas Border Communities

Occurrence of asymptomatic malaria infection and living conditions in the lowlands of Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

Anopheles albimanus (Diptera: Culicidae) Ensemble Distribution Modeling: Applications for Malaria Elimination

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