Mozambique: Study uses mosquito larvae to check efficacy of insecticides

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Mozambique: Study uses mosquito larvae to check efficacy of insecticides

7:12 CAT | 08 Jul 2022

Image: Lusa

Research is using mosquito larvae to study resistance to insecticides against malaria in Gaza province, southern Mozambique, announced the study on Thursday.

“The study consists of collecting mosquito larvae at sentinel posts established by the National Malaria Control Programme and growing them in the Xai-Xai insectary until they reach the adult stage, before being subjected to various susceptibility tests,” said a statement issued today by the World Health Organisation (WHO), one of the entities involved in the research.

The statement said that these exercises aim to monitor the mosquitoes’ resistance to insecticides used in public health.

Alfa Moiane, biologist and provincial head of the Malaria programme in Gaza province, said the larvae are collected at three sentinel points.

“Within the scope of malaria prevention and control, one of the main interventions of vector control is indoor spraying,” Moiane pointed out, quoted in the note.

The research, he continued, is guided by resistance to these insecticides.

Sonia Trigo, the WHO Public Health and Environment focal point in Mozambique, who took part in one of the larvae collection activities in Gaza, said that the results of the susceptibility tests would help the National Malaria Control Programme to make a decision on “the selection of insecticide” to be used in indoor spraying and the type of nets.

According to WHO Mozambique, the study is part of the AFRO II project for disease prevention and control, which started in 2018 and ends in December.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report of December 2021, Mozambique is one of six sub-Saharan African countries where more than half of all malaria cases in the world are concentrated: they are Nigeria (27% of world cases), the Democratic Republic of Congo (12%), Uganda (5%), Mozambique (4%), Angola (3.4%) and Burkina Faso (3.4%).

Source: Lusa