Assessment of Malaria Control by Mosquito Prevalence

Extract

The ultimate assessment of the efficiency of malaria control is by the number of cases of malaria contracted in the controlled area, but a method that gives a more immediate and definite information is required because of the:—

(i) Delay before the necessary information is obtained. For example, abandonment of larval control will not affect the number of malaria cases for more than a month;

(ii) Shifting populations. People will come into the area and develop malaria acquired outside and conversely people having acquired malaria inside the area will go outside before developing it;

(iii) Difficulty of distinguishing between relapses and newly acquired infections. The number of relapses has no connection with the efficiency of the control;

(iv) Lack of cases of malaria despite infection in a predominantly immune community in which the non-immune persons are protected by suppressive drugs, mepacrine and quinine. This is a common condition in very malarious areas.