Whether an individual becomes infected in an infectious disease outbreak depends on many interconnected risk factors, which may relate to characteristics of the individual (e.g., age, sex), his or her close relatives (e.g., household members), or the wider community. Studies monitoring individuals in households or schools have helped elucidate the determinants of transmission in small social st...

A detailed look at the ecology of a disease can lead to recommendations for public health interventions that are not otherwise obvious. To illustrate this point, this paper discusses the ecology and control of infection with the Australian arbovirus Ross River virus (RRV). The traditional insecticidal approach to mosquito control is recommended when an outbreak of RRV results from the expansion...

Vaccines that induce mosquito-killing (mosquitocidal) activity could substantially reduce the transmission of certain mosquito-borne diseases, especially vaccines against African malaria vectors, such as the mosquito Anopheles gambiae. To generate and characterize antimosquito immunity we immunized groups of mice with two individual A. gambiae midgut cDNAs, Ag-Aper1 (a secreted peritrophic matr...

Tropical and potentially fatal malaria is brought on by the parasite Plasmodium spp which spreads through infected female anopheles mosquitoes within human populations. In Ghana, endemic perennial, with distinct seasonal fluctuations in northern part. Children aged below five years are among population most vulnerable to Ghana. This study’s goal establish how suspected cases, tested climatic co...

(5′-GTGGAGCAAATGCAGGACA ACCGAATGCAG-3 ′;5 ′-AGCAA AT G C A G G A C A A C C G A AT GCAGAAGG-3′) in the csp gene of Pkpah-1. Furthermore, the alignment showed 21 variable sites between the genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on SSU rRNA sequences indicated that Pkpah-1 and Pkprk-1 formed a cluster, which was more related to P. knowlesi isolates from Thailand than to isolates from Sarawak, a Malays...

an insecticide in agriculture (9, 10), as an antimosquito agent for eradicating malaria (3, 4, 11, 17), as a disinfectant of commercial aircraft (16), and for the control of flea infections (10). Hence, human exposure to and inhalation of this pesticide occurs frequently. As normally used, this substance has not exhibited acute toxicity except for the occasional lowering of plasma cholinesteras...

Malaria was formerly a serious endemic disease in most of the habitable areas of the world. Geographically, the endemic regions extended from roughly 45° North to 45° South and had mean summer isotherms of at least 60° F. The specific antimalarial action of quinine was widely recognized by the middle of the 17th century. Moreover, the cause of malaria was discovered in 1880 and its transmission...

In Thailand and in many parts of the world, the annoyances and potential health hazards of mosquitoes1 have led to the development of many devices designed to kill them.2 The electric fly-swatter (Yongtong,Yongtong Electronics Co, Ltd, China) is thought by many to be a safe antimosquito device that is used widely for killing mosquitoes in tropical countries (Figure 1). It is free of toxic chemi...

To the Editor: Malaria caused by Plasmodium spp. is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in the world, especially in tropical countries. P. vivax represents the second most prevalent of malaria species. Therefore, as measures to control the high death rates in humans caused by P. falciparum become more effective, P. vivax is likely to become the primary malaria threat (1). In P. vivax i...

TO THE EDITOR—The World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region has a total population of 513 million, nearly half of which resides in areas at risk for malaria. Among the countries with low malaria burden limited to certain areas and with effective malaria programs, Iran has experienced a gradual decline in malaria over the past decade, now approaching the ultimate goal of disea...