Malaria in pregnancy (MiP) contributes significantly to infant mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa and has consequences on survivors, such as pre-term birth and low birth weight. However, its impact on long-term neurocognitive development in children remains unknown.
Malaria infections in the first trimester of pregnancy are frequent and deleterious for both mother and child health. To investigate if these early infections are newly acquired or already present in the host, we assessed whether parasites detected before pregnancy and those detected in early pregnancy are the same infection.
This study provides detailed characteristics of vector populations in preparation for a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) aiming to compare the community impact of dual active-ingredient (AI) long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) that combine two novel insecticide classes–chlorfenapyr or pyriproxifen–with alpha-cypermethrin to improve the prevention of malaria transmitted by insecticide-resistant vectors compared to standard pyrethroid LLINs.
Methods
The study was carried out in 60 villages across Cove, Zangnanando and Ouinhi districts, southern Benin. Mosquito collections were performed using human landing catches (HLCs). After morphological identification, a sub-sample of Anopheles gambiae s.l. were dissected for parity, analyzed by PCR for species and presence of L1014F kdr mutation and by ELISA-CSP to identify Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite infection. WHO susceptibility tube tests were performed by exposing adult An. gambiae s.l., collected as larvae from each district, to 0.05% alphacypermethrin, 0.75% permethrin, 0.1% bendiocarb and 0.25% pirimiphos-methyl. Synergist assays were also conducted with exposure first to 4% PBO followed by alpha-cypermethrin.
In the framework of EVALMOUS study aiming to assess the use and effectiveness of mosquito nets by pregnant women and other members of their household in a lagoon area in southern Benin, the behaviour of pregnant women relative to the time they go to bed using the net were recorded. Malaria vectors biting rhythm, Plasmodium falciparum infection and insecticide resistance genes in malaria vectors were also determined.
Insecticide resistance is threatening the effectiveness of efforts to control malaria vectors in Benin. This study explores the levels and mechanisms of insecticide resistance in An. gambiae s.l. to pyrethroids.
Little attention has been devoted to the role of the immunoregulatory HLA-E/-F/−G genes in malaria. We evaluated the entire HLA-E/-F/−G variability in Beninese children highly exposed to Plasmodium falciparum (P.f.) malaria.
Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are currently the primary method of malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa and have contributed to a significant reduction in malaria burden over the past 15 years. However, this progress is threatened by the wide-scale selection of insecticide-resistant malaria vectors. It is, therefore, important to accelerate the generation of evidence for new classes of LLINs.
In 2004, in response to high levels of treatment failure associated with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) resistance, Benin changed its first-line malaria treatment from SP to artemisinin-based combination therapy for treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Resistance to SP is conferred by accumulation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in P. falciparum genes involved in folate metabolism, dihydrofolate reductase (Pfdhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (Pfdhps), targeted by pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine, respectively. Because SP is still used for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnant women (IPTp) and seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMCP) in Benin, the prevalence of Pfdhfr and Pfdhps SNPs in P. falciparum isolates collected in 2017 were investigated.
Understanding the molecular basis of insecticide resistance in mosquito, such as Anopheles funestus, is an important step in developing strategies to mitigate the resistance problem. This study aims to assess the role of the GSTe2 gene in DDT resistance and determine the genetic diversity of this gene in An. funestus.
In 2020, Benin has implemented a digitalized mass distribution campaign of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in the particular context of COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes the implementation process as well as the challenges and lessons learned from this campaign.
