Levels and Determinants of DDT and DDE Exposure in the VHEMBE Cohort.

Background: Although indoor residual spraying (IRS) is an effective tool for malaria control, its use contributes to high insecticide exposure in sprayed communities and raises concerns about possible unintended health effects.

Objective: The Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE) is a birth cohort study initiated in 2012 to characterize prenatal exposure to IRS insecticides and exposures' impacts on child health and development in rural South Africa.

Methods: In this report, we describe the VHEMBE cohort and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) serum concentrations measured in VHEMBE mothers when they presented for delivery.

mSpray: a mobile phone technology to improve malaria control efforts and monitor human exposure to malaria control pesticides in Limpopo, South Africa.

Recent estimates indicate that malaria has led to over half a million deaths worldwide, mostly to African children. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) of insecticides is one of the primary vector control interventions. However, current reporting systems do not obtain precise location of IRS events in relation to malaria cases, which poses challenges for effective and efficient malaria control.