Original Article

Decline of Malaria Incidence in Three Villages of Thar Desert, India: the Impact of Use of Insecticide-Treated Nets

Abstract

Background: Malaria is the most important tropical and parasitic disease in the world. Endophagy of many malaria vectors­­­­­­­­­­­ advocates that impeding their entry into houses and preventing their contact with the occupants from infective bites could protect them against malaria.

Methods: The study was carried out in Jaisalmer District, India and three villages were selected as test villages and three as control. Cross-sectional malaria prevalence surveys and mosquito collections were conducted in all the study villages. Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) were tied below the beds for personal protection against the mosquito bite. Door and window curtains along with partition curtains were treated with insecticide for baring the entry of mosquito vectors.

Results: Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum were reported from the study villages. Higher malaria cases were detect­ed in the control villages than the insecticide-treated bed net-distributed villages. The percentages of reduction of mos­quito density in the houses of the ITNs distributed villages were significantly higher than the control villages. The insec­ticide activity was decreased slowly, and the knockdown time (KD50) values were found to be increased with the dura­tion of usage of net. The KD50 of Anopheles subpictus s.l. was found to be more than the An. stephensi. Rooms where the ITNs were found to be significantly lower per man-hour density of mosquitoes.

Conclusion: The use of alternative forms of ITNs shows a potential for preventing malaria and are making a significant contribution to the mosquito control. Effective use of ITNs could be helpful in the malaria elimination in India by 2030.

1. WHO (‎2022)‎ World malaria report 2022. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1–14.
2. WHO (2019) World malaria report 2019. World Health Organization, Geneva, 1–232.
3. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2014) Strategic action plan for malaria control in India 2007–2012. Directorate of Health Services, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, New Delhi, India.
4. Tyagi BK (2004) A review of the emer-gence of Plasmodium falciparum-domi-nated malaria in irrigated areas of the Thar Desert, India. Acta Trop. 89(2): 227–239.
5. Singh N (2009) A new global malaria erad-ication strategy: implications for malaria research from an Indian perspective. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 103(12): 1202–1203.
6. Singh N, Chand SK, Bharti PK, Singh MP, Chand G, Mishra AK, Shukla MM, Ma-hulia MM, Sharma RK (2013) Dynam¬ics of forest malaria transmission in Balaghat District, Madhya Pradesh, In-dia. PLoS One. 8(9): e73730.
7. Sharma SN, Subbarao SK, Choudhury DS, Pandey KC (1993) Role of An. culicifa-cies and An. stephensi in malaria trans-mission in urban Delhi. Indian J Malari-ol. 30(3): 155–168.
8. Chakraborty S, Ray S, Tandon N (1998) Seasonal prevalence of Anopheles ste-phen¬si larvae and existence of two forms of the species in an urban garden in Cal-cutta City. Indian J Malariol. 35(1): 8–14.
9. Nagpal BN, Sharma VP (1995) Indian Anophe¬lines. Oxford and IBH Publish-ing, New Delhi.
10. Korgaonkar NS, Kumar A, Yadav RS, Kabadi D, Dash AP (2012) Mosquito biting activity on humans and detection of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Anopheles stephensi in Goa, India. Indi-an J Med Res. 135(1): 120–126.
11. Christophers SR (1933) The fauna of Brit-ish India including Ceylon and Burma. Diptera Vol. IV, Family Culicidae, Tribe Anophelini. Taylor and Francis, London.
12. Barraud PJ (1934) The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Dip¬tera. Vol. V. Family Culicidae, Tribes Meg¬arhinini and Culincini, Tay¬lor and Francies, London.
13. Belkin JN (1962) Mosquitoes of the South Pacific (Diptera, Culicidae). 2 Volumes. Univ Calif Press. Berkeley.
14. Reuben R, Tewari SC, Hiriyan J, Akiya¬ma J (1994) Illustrated keys to species of Culex (Culex) associated with Japa¬nese encephalitis in Southeast Asia (Dip¬tera: Culicidae). Mosq Syst. 26(2): 75–96.
15. Rattanarithikul R, Harbach RE, Harrison BA, Panthusiri P, Jones JW, Coleman RE (2005) Illustrated keys to the mos-quitoes of Thailand. II. Genera Culex and Lutzia. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 36(2): 1–97.
16. Abbott WS (1925) A method of compu-ting the effectiveness of an insecticide. J Econ Entomol. 18(2): 265–267.
17. Jambulingam P, Gunasekaran K, Sahu S, Vijayakumar T (2008) Insecticide treat-ed mosquito nets for malaria control in India-experience from a tribal area on operational feasibility and uptake. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 103(2): 165–171.
18. Sahu SS, Jambulingam P, Vijayakumar T, Subramanian S, Kalyanasundaram M (2003) Impact of alphacypermethrin treat¬ed bed nets on malaria in villages of Mal¬kangiri district, Orissa, India. Acta Trop. 89(1): 55–66.
19. Wu N, Qin L, Liao G, Zhou W, Geng W, Shi Y, Tan Y, Zhao K (1993) Field eval-uation of bednets impregnated with del-tamethrin for malaria control. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 24(4): 664–671.
20. Rafinejad J, Vatandoost H, Nikpoor F, Abai MR, Shaeghi M, Duchen S, Rafi F (2008) Effect of washing on the bioeffi-cacy of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) against main malaria vector Anopheles stephensi by three bioassay methods. J Vector Borne Dis. 45(2): 143–50.
21. Xavier PA, Lima JENS O (1986) Uso de cortinas impregnadas com deltametrina no control da malária em garimpos no Território Federal do Amapá: nota pré-via. Rev Bras Malariol Doencas Trop. 38: 137–139.
22. Kroeger A, Mancheno M, Pesse K (1995) Métodos paramejorar el control de la malaria en Ecuador y Colombia. Cayambe, Ecuador: Abya-Yala. Med Hyg. 50: 72–81.
23. Rozendaal JA, Voorham J, Van Hoof JPM, Oostburg BFJ (1989) Efficacy of mosquito nets treated with permethrin in Suriname. Med Vet Entomol 3: 353–365.
24. Lines JD, Myamba J, Curtis CF (1987) Ex¬perimental hut trials of permethrin-im-preg¬nated mosquito nets and eave cur-tains against malaria vectors in Tan¬zania. Med Vet Entomol. 1(1): 37–51.
25. Miller JE, Lindsay SW, Armstrong JR (1991) Experimental hut trials of bed-nets impregnated with synthetic pyre-throid or organophosphate insecticide for mosquito control in The Gambia. Med Vet Entomol. 5(4): 465–476.
26. Phillips-Howard PA, Nahlen BL, Kolczak MS, Hightower AW, Ter Kuile FO, Alaii JA, Gimnig JE, Arudo J, Vulule JM, Odhacha A, Kachur SP, Schoute E, Rosen DH, Sexton JD, Oloo AJ, Haw-ley WA (2003) Efficacy of permethrin-treat¬ed bed nets in the prevention of mortality in young children in an area of high perennial malaria transmission in western Kenya. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 68(4 Suppl): 23–29.
27. Alonso PL, Lindsay SW, Armstrong JR, Conteh M, Hill AG, David PH, Fegan G, de Francisco A, Hall AJ, Shenton FC, Greenwood BM, Conteh M, Cham K, Hill AG, David PH, Fegan G, Hall AJ (1991) The effect of insecticide-treat¬ed bed nets on mortality of Gambi-an children. Lancet. 337(8756): 1499–1502.
28. Takken W (2002) Do insecticide-treated bednets have an effect on malaria vec-tors? Trop Med Int Health. 7(12): 1022–1030.
29. Ordóñez González J, Kroeger A, Aviña AI, Pabón E (2002) Wash resistance of insecticide-treated materials. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 96(4): 370–375.
30. Cibulskis RE, Alonso P, Aponte J, Areg-awi M, Barrette A, Bergeron L, Fergus CA, Knox T, Lynch M, Patouillard E, Schwarte S, Stewart S, Williams R (2016) Malaria: Global progress 2000-2015 and future challenges. Infect Dis Poverty. 5 (1): 61.
Files
IssueVol 17 No 2 (2023) QRcode
SectionOriginal Article
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/jad.v17i2.13622
Keywords
Anopheles; Desert; Insecticide; ITNs; Malaria
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Mohanty S, Kanojia P. Decline of Malaria Incidence in Three Villages of Thar Desert, India: the Impact of Use of Insecticide-Treated Nets. J Arthropod Borne Dis. 2023;17(2):175–186.