Measurement of malaria transmission in Africa : an entomological perspective

Estimates of malaria transmission can be obtained from measurements of parasite rates in humans as hosts and from mosquitoes as vectors of the parasite. These estimates are valuable for characterizing the level of endemicity of malaria for a given area as well as in defining priorities for allocation of interventions against this disease.

Entomological methods can be applied to estimate mosquito biting rates, an essential parameter in determination of mosquito mediated malaria transmission intensity. These methods are also relevant for characterization mosquito biting patterns and preferences, therefore defining the extent of human exposure scenarios experienced from mosquito populations. These vary from one mosquito population to another depending on the amount of human and vector contact as influenced by host availability, the level duration of coverage of hosts with vector control interventions.

This thesis offers a multi-site analysis of the sampling efficiency of the most widely used tools for sampling host seeking mosquitoes: light traps and human landing catches, and describes the biting patterns of the sampled mosquito populations. The latter results, together with human behaviour patterns allowed for the determination of human exposure scenarios that occurs indoors and therefore can be prevented by indoor vector control using interventions such as Long Lasting Insecticide treated nets (LLINS) and Insecticide Residual Spraying (IRS). Furthermore, the importance of monitoring mosquito infection rates parallel to clinical surveillance of large-scale trials of antimalarial drugs or vaccines is demonstrated.