Chemical Control of Snail Vectors as an Integrated Part of a Strategy for the Elimination of Schistosomiasis-A Review of the State of Knowledge and Future Needs.

WHO promotes the implementation of a comprehensive strategy to control and eliminate schistosomiasis through preventive chemotherapy, snail control, clean water supply, improved sanitation, behaviour change interventions, and environmental management. The transmission of schistosomiasis involves infected definitive hosts (humans or animals) excreting eggs that hatch (miracidia), which infect freshwater snail vectors (also referred to as intermediate snail hosts) living in marshlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, or irrigation canals. Infective larvae (cercariae) develop within the snail, which, when released, may infect humans and/or animals in contact with the water.

Going digital: added value of electronic data collection in 2018 Afghanistan Health Survey.

Background: Through a nationally representative household survey in Afghanistan, we conducted an operational study in two relatively secure provinces comparing effectiveness of computer-aided personal interviewing (CAPI) with paper-and-pencil interviewing (PAPI).

Methods: In Panjshir and Parwan provinces, household survey data were collected using paper questionnaires in 15 clusters, and OpenDataKit (ODK) software on electronic tablets in 15 other clusters. Added value was evaluated from three perspectives: efficient implementation, data quality, and acceptability.

An experimental hut evaluation of Olyset Plus, a long-lasting insecticidal net treated with a mixture of permethrin and piperonyl butoxide, against Anopheles fluviatilis in Odisha State, India.

Background: Fast development of pyrethroid resistance in malaria vectors prompted the development of new vector control tools including combination of insecticides with different modes of action as part of resistance management strategies. Olyset Plus® is a new long-lasting insecticidal net, in which, permethrin and a synergist, piperonyl butoxide (PBO), are incorporated into filaments. Mixture nets such as this may have application against resistant mosquitoes, particularly those whose resistance is based on oxidative metabolism.

Setting international standards for the management of public health pesticides.

Rajpal Singh Yadav and colleagues describe current and future challenges for the management of pesticides used in public health.

Long-lasting transition toward sustainable elimination of desert malaria under irrigation development.

In arid areas, people living in the proximity of irrigation infrastructure are potentially exposed to a higher risk of malaria due to changes in ecohydrological conditions that lead to increased vector abundance. However, irrigation provides a pathway to economic prosperity that over longer time scales is expected to counteract these negative effects. A better understanding of this transition between increased malaria risk and regional elimination, in particular whether it is slow or abrupt, is relevant to sustainable development and disease management.

Global trends in the use of insecticides to control vector-borne diseases.

Background: Data on insecticide use for vector control are essential for guiding pesticide management systems on judicious and appropriate use, resistance management, and reduction of risks to human health and the environment.

Objective: We studied the global use and trends of insecticide use for control of vector-borne diseases for the period 2000 through 2009.

Methods: A survey was distributed to countries with vector control programs to request national data on vector control insecticide use, excluding the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LNs).

Status of legislation and regulatory control of public health pesticides in countries endemic with or at risk of major vector-borne diseases.

Background: Legislation and regulation of pesticides used in public health are essential for reducing risks to human health and the environment.

Objective: We assessed the global situation on legislation and regulatory control of public health pesticides.

Methods: A peer-reviewed and field-tested questionnaire was distributed to 142 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO); 113 states completed the questionnaire.