Which trap is best? Alternatives to outdoor human landing catches for malaria vector surveillance: a meta-analysis

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Jordan Eckert, Seun Oladipupo, Yifan Wang, Shanshan Jiang, Vivek Patil, Benjamin A. McKenzie, Neil F. Lobo, Sarah Zohdy
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2022
• Subjects: Anopheles; Collection; HLC; Meta-analysis; Mosquito; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04332-1; https://doaj.org/article/7d5f29274f054f398f56ea6c7b01af1c

Abstract Background Human landing catches (HLC) are an entomological collection technique in which humans are used as attractants to capture medically relevant host-seeking mosquitoes. The use of this method has been a topic of extensive debate for decades mainly due to ethical concerns. Many alternatives to HLC have been proposed; however, no quantitative review and meta-analysis comparing HLC to outdoor alternative trapping methods has been conducted. Methods A total of 58 comparisons across 12 countries were identified. We conducted a meta-analysis comparing the standardized mean difference of Anopheles captured by HLC and alternative traps. To explain heterogeneity, three moderators were chosen for analysis: trap type, location of study, and species captured. A meta-regression was fit to understand how the linear combination of moderators helped in explaining heterogeneity. The possibility of biased results due to publication bias was also explored. Results Random-effects meta-analysis showed no statistically significant difference in the mean difference of Anopheles collected. Moderator analysis was conducted to determine the effects of trap type, geographical location of study, and the species of Anopheles captured. On average, tent-based traps captured significantly more Anopheles than outdoor HLC (95% CI: [− .9065, − 0.0544]), alternative traps in Africa captured on average more mosquitoes than outdoor HLC (95% CI: [− 2.8750, − 0.0294]), and alternative traps overall captured significantly more Anopheles gambiae s.l. than outdoor HLC (95% CI: [− 4.4613, − 0.2473]) on average. Meta-regression showed that up to 55.77% of the total heterogeneity found can be explained by a linear combination of the three moderators and the interaction between trap type and species. Subset analysis on An. gambiae s.l. showed that light traps specifically captured on average more of this species than HLC (95% CI: [− 18.3751, − 1.0629]). Publication bias likely exists. With 59.65% of studies reporting p-values less than 0.025, ...