Human behaviour directs household-level exposure to malaria vectors in Bandarban, Bangladesh

Aubourg, Matthew A.; Al-Amin, Hasan Mohammad; Sunkara, Anoop; Chetan, Sanjna; Monroe, April; Phru, Ching Swe; Haque, Rashidul; Khan, Wasif Ali; Hendershot, Allison; Alam, Mohammad Shafiul; Lobo, Neil F.

doi:10.1186/s12936-022-04375-4

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Routine night studying sessions predispose school-age children to mosquito bites since they do not use protective measures. Unfortunately, entomological studies have reported a substantial proportion of biting mosquitoes before midnight (24:00) [28][29][30][31]. The under-five may be protected against such risk as they would be at home and under bed nets early.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring activities and behaviours potentially increases school-age children’s vulnerability to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Kihwele,

Gavana,

Makungu

et al. 2023

Malar J

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Background Strengthening malaria control activities in Tanzania has dramatically declined human malaria infections. However, there is an increasing epidemiological shift in the burden on school-age children. The underlying causes for such an epidemiological shift remain unknown in this context. This study explored activities and behaviours that could increase the vulnerability of school-age children to transmission risk to provide insight into protection gap with existing interventions and opportunities for supplementary interventions. Methods This cross-sectional study conducted twenty-four focus group discussions (FGDs) in three districts of Rufiji, Kibiti and Kilwa in south-eastern Tanzania. Sixteen FGDs worked with school-age children (13 to 18 years) separating girls and boys and eight FGDs with their parents in mixed-gender groups. A total of 205 community members participated in FGDs across the study area. Of them, 72 participants were parents, while 133 were school-age children (65 boys and 68 girls). Results Routine domestic activities such as fetching water, washing kitchen utensils, cooking, and recreational activities such as playing and watching television and studying were the reported activities that kept school-age children outdoors early evening to night hours (between 18:00 and 23:00). Likewise, the social and cultural events including initiation ceremonies and livelihood activities also kept this age group outdoors from late evening to early night and sometimes past midnight hours. Parents migrating to farms from December to June, leaving behind school-age children unsupervised affecting their net use behaviour plus spending more time outdoors at night, and the behaviour of children sprawling legs and hands while sleeping inside treated bed nets were identified as potential risks to infectious mosquito bites. Conclusion The risky activities, behaviours, and social events mostly occurring outdoors might increase school-age children’s vulnerability to malaria infections. The findings provide preliminary insight on potential risk factors for persisting transmission. Further studies to quantify the risk behaviour and activities are recommended to establish the magnitude and anticipated impact on supplementary control strategies to control infection in school-age children.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring activities and behaviours potentially increases school-age children’s vulnerability to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Kihwele,

Gavana,

Makungu

et al. 2023

Malar J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Routine night studying sessions predispose school-age children to mosquito bites since they do not use protective measures. Unfortunately, entomological studies have reported a substantial proportion of biting mosquitoes before midnight (34)(35)(36)(37). The under-ve may be protected against such risk as they would be at home and under bednets early.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor activities and behaviors increase the vulnerability of school-age children to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Kihwele

Gavana

Makungu

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background: Strengthening malaria control activities in Tanzania has dramatically declined human malaria infections. However, the burden is now higher among school-age children, but with the inconsistency of evidence on risk factors and underlying causes for such an epidemiological shift. This study explored activities and behaviors that increase the vulnerability of school-age children to transmission risk. Methods: Twenty-four focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted in three districts of Rufiji, Kibiti and Kilwa in south-eastern Tanzania. Sixteen FGDs worked with school-age children (13 to 18 years) and eight FGDs with their parents. Results: Routine domestic activities such as fetching water, washing kitchen utensils, cooking, recreational activities such as playing and watching television as well as studying were the reported activities that kept school-age children outdoors late into the evening and therefore, likely to predispose them to malaria infection. Likewise, the social and cultural events such as initiation ceremonies and livelihood activities also kept this age group outdoors from late evening to early night and sometimes past midnight hours. Parents migrating to farms from December to June, leaving behind school-age children unsupervised and the behavior of children sprawling legs and hands while sleeping were also mentioned as drivers increasing school-age children’s vulnerability to infectious mosquito bites. Conclusion: The risky activities, behaviors, and social events mostly occurring outdoors increase school-age children's vulnerability to malaria infections. The evidence presented calls for the urgent need to integrate outdoor malaria vector control measures into the existing interventions to control infection before bedtime. That will speed up efforts toward having society free of malaria by 2030.

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“…The study was conducted in four sites under two unions (Kuhalong and Rajbila) in Bandarban district, Bangladesh (Additional file 1 : Fig. S1) [ 25 ]. The temperature in Bandarban district ranges from 13 °C in winter to 34.6 °C in summer.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition of Anopheles species and bionomic characteristics over the peak malaria transmission season in Bandarban, Bangladesh

Al-Amin

Rodriguez

Phru

et al. 2023

Malar J

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Background Joint efforts by government and non-government organizations have helped to reduce malaria in Bangladesh and set the country on a clear path to eventual malaria elimination. However, achieving that goal would be challenging without a comprehensive understanding of vector bionomics. Methods Targeted capturing of Anopheles mosquitoes over a rainy season, utilizing specific sampling methods, including human landing catches (HLCs), CDC-light traps (CDC-LTs), and pyrethrum spray catches (PSCs) were aimed to characterize entomological drivers of transmission in four sites of Bandarban, Bangladesh. Results Molecular characterization of a subset of 4637 mosquitoes has demonstrated the presence of at least 17 species whose capture rates were representative of the rainy season. Species compositions and bionomic traits did not vary between sites with Anopheles maculatus having the highest landing rate by HLCs and Anopheles vagus having the highest capture rate with CDC-LTs. Interestingly, Anopheles species compositions and capture rates varied significantly (p < 0.05) for An. vagus, between HLCs and its often-used proxy—CDC-LTs- suggesting impacts on downstream analysis. CDC-LTs capture rates demonstrated differing compositions with indoor and outdoor biting rates. For example, Anopheles nigerrimus and Anopheles nivipes were more endophagic by HLCs and more exophagic by CDC-LTs. The use of a cow-baited CDC-LT also demonstrated significantly different results when compared to a human-baited CDC-LT considering the high degree of anthropophily in these species. The exception to both zoophily and indoor resting was An. vagus, which demonstrated both anthropophily and high resting rates indoors—pointing to this species being a possible primary vector at this site. Conclusion A diverse Anopheles fauna in Bandarban has been confirmed through molecular methods, highlighting the potential impact of sampling techniques. Given the complexity of the local ecosystem, a better understanding of mosquito behaviour and ecology is required to achieve the goal of malaria elimination in Bangladesh.

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Human behaviour directs household-level exposure to malaria vectors in Bandarban, Bangladesh

Cited by 5 publications

References 36 publications

Exploring activities and behaviours potentially increases school-age children’s vulnerability to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Exploring activities and behaviours potentially increases school-age children’s vulnerability to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Outdoor activities and behaviors increase the vulnerability of school-age children to malaria infections in south-eastern Tanzania

Composition of Anopheles species and bionomic characteristics over the peak malaria transmission season in Bandarban, Bangladesh

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