The spatial dynamics of mosquito transmission of lymphatic filariasis in Papua New Guinea

• Main Author: Chambers, M. E.
• Published: University of Cambridge 1999
• Subjects: 616.9883
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.597411

The thesis is based on a ten month household-based parallel study of the entomological and parasitological features of infection and transmission of lymphatic filariasis, which I conducted in an endemic village in northern Papua New Guinea. The work focused on assessing the role of vector biting patterns as a contributor to the small-scale differences in infection rates seen at both the household and individual levels. Chapter 1 describe the lifecycle of the parasite - <I>Wuchereria bancroft - </I>and the observed heterogeneities in infection at the micro-epidemiological scale. Chapter 2 describes the measurement and treatment of filariasis infection in the village population. Chapter 3 describes the epidemiology of infection in the human population, highlighting the heterogeneities in prevalence and intensity between households and individuals. The basic ecology of the main anthropophilic mosquito species is outlined in Chapter 4. An examination of the relationship between the spatial distribution of the vectors and certain ecological and domestic correlates identifies risk factors which are associated with higher mosquito densities, and therefore higher vector-man contact rates. This is the most detailed analysis of risk factors associated with exposure to lymphatic filariasis thus far. The two main methods of mosquito collection (resting and biting catches) are compared in Chapter 5, showing that in terms of relative densities, species composition and infection rates they are not entirely interchangeable. Chapter 6 describes the observed vector infection rates and monitors the effect of treatment of the host population. In particular it examines the data for evidence of a possible density-dependent relationship between parasite densities in host and vector. The spatial dynamics of infection are synthesised in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 is a general discussion which concludes with suggestions for future research and outlines implications of these findings for the planning and implementation of filariasis control programmes.