Uneasy bedfellows: Public-Private partnerships for malaria control.

It is argued that reducing poverty is likely to alleviate malaria transmission and that the way to do this is by reducing inequality. The present capitalist system (as opposed to a straightforward market) tends to erode equality and promote profit over product. This may extend to the manufacture of bednets, bought by agencies rather than individual consumers, whose products may suffer from built in obsolescence.

Simple techniques for a complex problem: Sampling malaria vectors in Africa.

Disease surveillance, including entomological surveillance, serves as the basis for all vector control program activities. How to do this in the most ecologically sensible way, so that the most suitable, naturalistic method, of control for that population can be identified, should be a priority. Here we describe a set of techniques, whose only energy requirement is a torch (flashlight), that can be used to collect both endo and exophagic and endo and exophilic malaria vectors.

Effectiveness of piperonyl butoxide and pyrethroid-treated long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) versus pyrethroid-only LLINs with and without indoor residual spray against malaria infection: third year results of a cluster, randomised controlled, two-by-two factorial design trial in Tanzania.

Background: After decades of success in reducing malaria through the scale-up of pyrethroid long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), the decline in the malaria burden has stalled, coinciding with the rapid spread of pyrethroid resistance. In a previously reported study, nets treated with a pyrethroid and a synergist, piperonyl butoxide (PBO), demonstrated superior efficacy compared to standard pyrethroid LLINs (std-LLINs) against malaria. Evidence was used to support the public health recommendation of PBO-Pyrethroid-LLIN by the World Health Organization in 2018.

Swarming and mate selection in Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae).

Treating both male and female Anopheles gambiae as if they are "boids" (a computer program that mimics flocking in birds) explains much of the swarming and mating behavior in this important group of malaria vectors. It is suggested that species specific swarm sites act as the mate recognition system in anophelines and it is proposed that virgin females respond to the swarm site per se rather than the swarm itself. Given the high operational sex ratio and the inability of any male to dominate all females within the swarm, it is considered that chance, rather than sexual selection, is the most important determinant of mating.