PhD defence
Impact of odour-baited mosquito traps for malaria control: design and evaluation of a trial using solar-powered mosquito trapping systems in western Kenya
Summary
To keep the current levels of malaria control or to eradicate the disease, novel interventions targeting the parasite and or the mosquito are urgently needed. A proof of principle study was carried out to investigate the impact of mass malaria mosquito trapping complementing national guidelines, on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya. Solar-powered mosquito traps baited with human odour were provided to over 4000 households. Innovative health and demographic surveillance methods and data collection tools were implemented to continuously monitor epidemiological, parasitological and entomological outcomes of the trial. A new type of experimental design was developed accounting for universal coverage of the intervention. Additionally new ways to measure the spatial effects of such interventions against vector-borne diseases are proposed. We conclude that the intervention has led to a remarkable reduction of 2/3 in the dominant malaria mosquito abundance and a reduction of 1/3 in malaria prevalence in areas with odour-baited traps.
To keep the current levels of malaria control or to eradicate the disease, novel interventions targeting the parasite and or the mosquito are urgently needed. A proof of principle study was carried out to investigate the impact of mass malaria mosquito trapping complementing national guidelines, on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya. Solar-powered mosquito traps baited with human odour were provided to over 4000 households. Innovative health and demographic surveillance methods and data collection tools were implemented to continuously monitor epidemiological, parasitological and entomological outcomes of the trial. A new type of experimental design was developed accounting for universal coverage of the intervention. Additionally new ways to measure the spatial effects of such interventions against vector-borne diseases are proposed. We conclude that the intervention has led to a remarkable reduction of 2/3 in the dominant malaria mosquito abundance and a reduction of 1/3 in malaria prevalence in areas with odour-baited traps.