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PubMed2005

Perception of causes of malaria and treatment-seeking behaviour of nursing mothers in a rural community.

OBJECTIVE: Maternal health care workers' recognition of malaria, its transmission and treatment of children's fever at community level. DESIGN: Randomised sampling of households with children of 0-5 years. SETTING: Rural community in a forest zone. SUBJECTS: Fifty-five households at Ijegemo village, Ogun state, Nigeria were sampled and questionnaires administered to 200 mothers/care workers of children within the age group 0-5 years. Blood smears were obtained from finger pricks and level of parasitemia with malaria parasites determined for each child. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interactions with the women during the survey empowered them with accurate knowledge of malaria recognition, transmission and management of children's fever at the community level. RESULTS: Forty per cent of the respondents did not know the exact cause of malaria, 20% attributed the cause to sunlight, 16.5% to mosquitoes, 12.5% to poor hygiene, 4% to palm oil intake, 4% to blood shortage and 6% to a hot body. Of respondents 85.5% identified stagnant water as breeding site of mosquitoes but could not correlate it with the occurrence of malaria fever. Herbal concoction was the first treatment action. Some of these herbs are listed in the text. Plasmodium falciparum alone was identified in all blood smears. Children at two to three years of age were recorded with the highest percentage (67.5%) of parasite-positive cases with a mean value of 1237.04 +/- 2113.19. CONCLUSION: This study highlights a critical need for targeting health messages towards poorly educated women in order to empower them with the knowledge and resources to recognise and manage their children's health problems.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Queenslanders' use of personal strategies to minimise risk of mosquito-borne disease.

OBJECTIVE: To describe Queenslanders' awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards mosquito-borne diseases and their transmission, and to determine which factors influence the adoption of effective individual prevention strategies. METHODS: In 1995-6, cross-sectional surveys of adult residents in the western suburbs of Brisbane and registered voters in Cairns were conducted. Forced entry logistic regression was used to predict use of personal protection and elimination of domestic breeding sites in the two cities. RESULTS: Final sample sizes were 347 in Cairns and 165 in Brisbane with response rates of approximately 70%. RRVD awareness was nearly universal in both cities. A majority of residents (60% in Brisbane and 65% in Cairns) report they are careful to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. 25% of Cairns residents and 18% of Brisbane residents report always using some method of personal protection. Cairns residents are also more likely to say that they actively prevent mosquitoes from breeding in their yards (76% in Brisbane and 87% in Cairns). Knowledge of mosquitoes and disease transmission was slightly higher in Cairns. In Brisbane, dislike of mosquitoes and being regularly bitten were significant in the multivariate model predicting personal protection, whereas concern for disease and being female were significant in Cairns. Concern about disease was a significant predictor of eliminating breeding sites in both cities. CONCLUSIONS: Raising concern about mosquito-borne disease can increase use of personal prevention strategies. However, providing information on prevention strategies may not be effective. The most effective strategies are not practiced or seen by the public to be related to minimising risk of disease. IMPLICATIONS: Greater emphasis in health promotion campaigns should be placed on encouraging permanent alterations to the domestic environment rather than temporary methods that are difficult to sustain and not effective against the common vectors for mosquito-borne diseases in Queensland. Educational messages should explicitly link preventive behaviours with the reduction in the likelihood of contracting a serious disease.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Application of insect repellents by travelers to malaria endemic areas.

The use of insect repellents applied to the skin is always encouraged in those visiting malaria endemic areas. There are a number of factors contributing to the efficacy of insect repellents in the field and an important factor contributing to their longevity relates to the applied dose. This study investigated the dose of insect repellent that travelers might normally apply to the skin. Subjects were asked to apply a product they had purchased to the arms and neck, and the dose applied (mg/cm(2)) was calculated. The study was conducted using three different populations; 74 travelers to malaria endemic areas visiting pharmacies to purchase repellents before they left the UK, 23 travelers on safari in India, and 24 on safari in Kenya. There was a significant difference in the mean applied arm dose of product (mg/cm(2)) [p < 0.001, analysis of variance (ANOVA)]; UK 1.15 (SD 0.29), India 0.96 (SD 0.23), and Kenya 1.34 (SD 0.54). Higher concentrations were achieved on the neck area. Few of the participants in the field trial used long-sleeved shirts at night. Even using 50% wt/vol repellent products, 32% in the Kenya and 25% in the India, study achieved a dose of active ingredient less than 0.5 mg/cm(2). These pilot studies would indicate that travelers tend to apply below the optimal concentration of active ingredient of repellent as might be suggested by mathematical models.

Administration, Cutaneous↗
PubMed2000

Pharmacological factors in the saliva of blood-feeding insects. Implications for vesicular stomatitis epidemiology.

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) epizootics in the Western United States have caused substantial economic losses to U.S. livestock industries in 1995, 1997, and 1998. The role of arthropods in transmitting VS to U.S. livestock is unclear. In particular, the impact of arthropod salivary gland factors in VS infections in livestock needs study. Pharmacological effects of arthropod salivary gland factors on animals are reviewed. The potential effects of arthropod saliva on the transmission and spread of VS virus to livestock in the Western U.S. is presented with emphasis on the biting midge, Culicoides sonorensis. Information is discussed with attention to vector potential of C. sonorensis, and its use as a model for evaluating insect salivary gland pharmacology on livestock response to VS.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Malaria--a shadow over Africa.

Reduction in severe disease and death from falciparum malaria in Africa requires new, more effective and inexpensive public health measures. The completed genomes of Plasmodium falciparum and its vector Anopheles gambiae represent a big step toward the discovery of these needed tools.

Africa South of the Sahara↗
PubMed2004

Emerging vectors in the Culex pipiens complex.

In the Old World, some mosquitoes in the Culex pipiens complex are excellent enzootic vectors of West Nile virus, circulating the virus among birds, whereas others bite mainly humans and other mammals. Here we show that, in northern Europe, such forms differing in behavior and physiology have unique microsatellite fingerprints with no evidence of gene flow between them, as would be expected from distinct species. In the United States, however, hybrids between these forms are ubiquitous. Such hybrids between human-biters and bird-biters may be the bridge vectors contributing to the unprecedented severity and range of the West Nile virus epidemic in North America.

Animals↗
PubMed1968

Falciparum malaria transmissible from monkey to man by mosquito bite.

Anopheles freeborni mosquitoes were infected by feeding on a New World monkey, Aotus trivirgatus, infected with the Malayan IV strain of Plasmodium falciparum. After a normal incubation period, the infection was passed to a human volunteer through the bites of these mosquitoes, demonstrating for the first time the practicability of using a simian host as a donor for the infection of mosquitoes with this species of human malarial parasites.

Animals↗
PubMed1972

Vesicular stomatitis virus (Indiana serotype): transovarial transmission by phlebotomine sandlies.

Transovarial transmission of vesicular stomatitis virus (Indiana serotype) by experimentally infected Lutzomyia trapidoi and Lutzomyia ylephiletrix to their progeny was demonstrated. Virus was recovered from all developmental stages; mean virus titers from egg to first generation adult showed a four-log increase, indicating that virus multiplication occurred during development of the sandflies. Virus titers in first generation adult females were comparable to those found in their parents. These infected female sandflies transmitted vesicular stomatitus virus Indiana by bite to susceptible animals and transmitted the virus transovarially to their offspring (second generation). Results demonstrate a possible mechanism for transmission and maintenance of this virus in nature without a vertebrate (heat) host reservoir.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

AIDS and insects.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed2000

Protection against cutaneous leishmaniasis resulting from bites of uninfected sand flies.

Despite the fact that Leishmania are transmitted exclusively by sand flies, none of the experimental models of leishmaniasis have established infection via sand fly bites. Here we describe a reproducible murine model of Leishmania major infection transmitted by Phlebotomus papatasi. Prior exposure of mice to bites of uninfected sand flies conferred powerful protection against Leishmania major that was associated with a strong delayed-type hypersensitivity response and with interferon-gamma production at the site of parasite delivery. These results have important implications for the epidemiology of cutaneous leishmaniasis and suggest a vaccination strategy against this and possibly other vector-borne diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Infectivity of Plasmodium berghei sporozoites delivered by intravenous inoculation versus mosquito bite: implications for sporozoite vaccine trials.

Plasmodium berghei sporozoites delivered by mosquito bite were more infectious to outbred CD-1 mice than were sporozoites delivered by intravenous inoculation. The route of challenge also affected vaccine efficacy. In view of these findings and the fact that mosquito bites are the natural mode of sporozoite delivery, infectious mosquito bites should be considered the challenge protocol of choice for sporozoite vaccine efficacy trials.

Animals↗