Malaria prevention interventions beyond long-lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Sarah Nalinya, David Musoke, Kevin Deane
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2022
• Subjects: Malaria; Housing design; Preventive interventions; Integrated vector management; Repellents; Mosquitoes; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04052-6; https://doaj.org/article/b3781b8fcd5a4036ac4c39606d112a56

Abstract Background Significant progress in malaria prevention during the past two decades has prompted increasing global dialogue on malaria elimination. Recent reviews on malaria strategies have focused mainly on long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS), with little emphasis on other prevention methods. This article is a scoping review of literature on malaria prevention methods beyond LLINs and IRS in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods This scoping review found articles published between from 1994 to 2020. Studies were obtained from a search of the PubMed, the Cochrane Library and Social Science abstracts. Grey literature and manual search of secondary references was also done. The search strategy included all study designs but limited only to English. Three independent reviewers performed the selection and characterization of articles, and the data collected were synthesized qualitatively. Results A total of 10,112 studies were identified among which 31 met the inclusion criteria. The results were grouped by the 3 emerging themes of: housing design; mosquito repellents; and integrated vector control. Housing design strategies included closing eves, screening of houses including windows, doors and ceilings, while mosquito repellents were mainly spatial repellents, use of repellent plants, and use of plant-based oils. Integrated vector control included larvae source management. Evidence consistently shows that improving housing design reduced mosquito entry and malaria prevalence. Spatial repellents also showed promising results in field experiments, while evidence on repellent plants is limited and still emerging. Recent literature shows that IVM has been largely ignored in recent years in many LMICs. Some malaria prevention methods such as spatial repellents and IVM are shown to have the potential to target both indoor and outdoor transmission of malaria, which are both important aspects to consider to achieve malaria elimination in LMICs. Conclusion The ...