Plasmodium falciparum causes the severest form of malaria which kills well over one million persons each year, chiefly children, and results in significant debilitation in hundreds of millions more. This disease has a dramatic socioeconomic impact in endemic countries and thus it is a recurring target for global health enterprises. Increased investment in existing control measures, including in...

In spite of more than 30 years ofcontrol activities, malaria continues to be the most important parasitic infection in Malaysia, accounting for 39,189 confirmed cases in 1991, giving an annual parasite incidence rate of 2.2 per 1,000 population. Some factors contributing to the continued transmission of malaria are the development of drug resistant Plasmodium Jalciparum. changes in vector behav...

A two years intervention study was carried out using permethrin impregnated bed nets in a hyperendemic area, in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. To assess the influence of this intervention on natural immunity, concurrent immunological studies to determine levels of antibodies to the circumsporozoite (CS) and ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA) proteins were conducted. Prevalence and titers ...

OBJECTIVE To document ownership and use of bednets with its determinants in the visceral leishmaniasis (VL)-endemic region where mainly non-insecticide impregnated nets are available through commercial channels, and bednets are being considered as a leishmaniasis vector control measure. METHODS In August-September 2006, semi-structured household (HH) questionnaires and observation guides were...

Anopheles farauti is the primary malaria vector throughout the coastal regions of the Southwest Pacific. A shift in peak biting time from late to early in the night occurred following widespread indoor residue spraying of dichlorodiphenyltrichloro-ethane (DDT) and has persisted in some island populations despite the intervention ending decades ago. We used mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (CO...

First instar larvae of Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) are very susceptible to deltamethrin, which kills all larvae at a very low dose (0.1 microg/l). Thus the sensitivity of this insect to detect that pyrethroid is in parts per billion, as obtained with most common chromatographic methods of analysis. Here we describe a biological test (BT) to quantify deltamethrin in long-lasting inse...

BACKGROUND The evaluation of the effectiveness of antimalarial drugs and bed net use in pregnant women is an important aspect of monitoring and surveillance of malaria control in pregnancy. In principle the screening method for assessing vaccine efficacy can be applied in non-vaccine settings for assessing interventions for malaria control in pregnancy. METHODS In this analysis field data on ...

BACKGROUND One of the best ways to prevent malaria is the use of insecticide-treated bed nets. Manufacturers pursue easier, safer and more efficient nets. Hence, many studies on the efficacy and wash resistance using World Health Organization standards have been reported. The commonly used detergent is "Savon de Marseille", because it closely resembles actually used soaps. At the 54(th) Collabo...

BACKGROUND Buruli ulcer is an infectious disease involving the skin, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. This disease is associated with areas where the water is slow-flowing or stagnant. However, the exact mechanism of transmission of the bacillus and the development of the disease through human activities is unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A case-control study to identify Buruli ulcer...

The effect of permethrin-treated bed nets (ITNs) on malaria vectors was studied as part of a large-scale, randomized, controlled trial in western Kenya. Indoor resting densities of fed Anopheles gambiae s.l. and An. funestus in intervention houses were 58.5% (P = 0.010) and 94.5% (P = 0.001) lower, respectively, compared with control houses. The sporozoite infection rate in An. gambiae s.l. was...