Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia
Abstract Background Seasonal patterns of malaria cases in many parts of Africa are generally associated with rainfall, yet in the dry seasons, malaria transmission declines but does not always cease. It is important to understand what conditions support these periodic cases. Aerial moisture is thoug...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:6e324e52a664454fb6c1b6c076f73af4 2023-05-15T15:18:01+02:00 Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia Carolina Duque Mukuma Lubinda Japhet Matoba Caison Sing’anga Jennifer Stevenson Timothy Shields Clive J. Shiff 2022-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w https://doaj.org/article/6e324e52a664454fb6c1b6c076f73af4 EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/6e324e52a664454fb6c1b6c076f73af4 Malaria Journal, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2022) Humidity Plant transpiration Malaria transmission Mosquito Micro-ecology Zambian rural conditions Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w 2022-12-30T21:25:19Z Abstract Background Seasonal patterns of malaria cases in many parts of Africa are generally associated with rainfall, yet in the dry seasons, malaria transmission declines but does not always cease. It is important to understand what conditions support these periodic cases. Aerial moisture is thought to be important for mosquito survival and ability to forage, but its role during the dry seasons has not been well studied. During the dry season aerial moisture is minimal, but intermittent periods may arise from the transpiration of peri-domestic trees or from some other sources in the environment. These periods may provide conditions to sustain pockets of mosquitoes that become active and forage, thereby transmitting malaria. In this work, humidity along with other ecological variables that may impact malaria transmission have been examined. Methods Negative binomial regression models were used to explore the association between peri-domestic tree humidity and local malaria incidence. This was done using sensitive temperature and humidity loggers in the rural Southern Province of Zambia over three consecutive years. Additional variables including rainfall, temperature and elevation were also explored. Results A negative binomial model with no lag was found to best fit the malaria cases for the full year in the evaluated sites of the Southern Province of Zambia. Local tree and granary night-time humidity and temperature were found to be associated with local health centre-reported incidence of malaria, while rainfall and elevation did not significantly contribute to this model. A no lag and one week lag model for the dry season alone also showed a significant effect of humidity, but not temperature, elevation, or rainfall. Conclusion The study has shown that throughout the dry season, periodic conditions of sustained humidity occur that may permit foraging by resting mosquitoes, and these periods are associated with increased incidence of malaria cases. These results shed a light on conditions that impact the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 21 1 |
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op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Humidity Plant transpiration Malaria transmission Mosquito Micro-ecology Zambian rural conditions Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
spellingShingle |
Humidity Plant transpiration Malaria transmission Mosquito Micro-ecology Zambian rural conditions Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Carolina Duque Mukuma Lubinda Japhet Matoba Caison Sing’anga Jennifer Stevenson Timothy Shields Clive J. Shiff Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
topic_facet |
Humidity Plant transpiration Malaria transmission Mosquito Micro-ecology Zambian rural conditions Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background Seasonal patterns of malaria cases in many parts of Africa are generally associated with rainfall, yet in the dry seasons, malaria transmission declines but does not always cease. It is important to understand what conditions support these periodic cases. Aerial moisture is thought to be important for mosquito survival and ability to forage, but its role during the dry seasons has not been well studied. During the dry season aerial moisture is minimal, but intermittent periods may arise from the transpiration of peri-domestic trees or from some other sources in the environment. These periods may provide conditions to sustain pockets of mosquitoes that become active and forage, thereby transmitting malaria. In this work, humidity along with other ecological variables that may impact malaria transmission have been examined. Methods Negative binomial regression models were used to explore the association between peri-domestic tree humidity and local malaria incidence. This was done using sensitive temperature and humidity loggers in the rural Southern Province of Zambia over three consecutive years. Additional variables including rainfall, temperature and elevation were also explored. Results A negative binomial model with no lag was found to best fit the malaria cases for the full year in the evaluated sites of the Southern Province of Zambia. Local tree and granary night-time humidity and temperature were found to be associated with local health centre-reported incidence of malaria, while rainfall and elevation did not significantly contribute to this model. A no lag and one week lag model for the dry season alone also showed a significant effect of humidity, but not temperature, elevation, or rainfall. Conclusion The study has shown that throughout the dry season, periodic conditions of sustained humidity occur that may permit foraging by resting mosquitoes, and these periods are associated with increased incidence of malaria cases. These results shed a light on conditions that impact the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Carolina Duque Mukuma Lubinda Japhet Matoba Caison Sing’anga Jennifer Stevenson Timothy Shields Clive J. Shiff |
author_facet |
Carolina Duque Mukuma Lubinda Japhet Matoba Caison Sing’anga Jennifer Stevenson Timothy Shields Clive J. Shiff |
author_sort |
Carolina Duque |
title |
Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
title_short |
Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
title_full |
Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
title_fullStr |
Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in Zambia |
title_sort |
impact of aerial humidity on seasonal malaria: an ecological study in zambia |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w https://doaj.org/article/6e324e52a664454fb6c1b6c076f73af4 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/6e324e52a664454fb6c1b6c076f73af4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04345-w |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766348248429101056 |