The effect of community-driven larval source management and house improvement on malaria transmission when added to the standard malaria control strategies in Malawi: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.
Type
ArticleAuthors
McCann, Robert SKabaghe, Alinune N
Moraga, Paula

Gowelo, Steven
Mburu, Monicah M
Tizifa, Tinashe
Chipeta, Michael G
Nkhono, William
Di Pasquale, Aurelio
Maire, Nicolas
Manda-Taylor, Lucinda
Mzilahowa, Themba
van den Berg, Henk
Diggle, Peter J
Terlouw, Dianne J
Takken, Willem
van Vugt, Michèle
Phiri, Kamija S
Date
2021-05-22Online Publication Date
2021-05-22Print Publication Date
2021-12Submitted Date
2021-01-08Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/669250
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
BackgroundCurrent standard interventions are not universally sufficient for malaria elimination. The effects of community-based house improvement (HI) and larval source management (LSM) as supplementary interventions to the Malawi National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) interventions were assessed in the context of an intensive community engagement programme.MethodsThe study was a two-by-two factorial, cluster-randomized controlled trial in Malawi. Village clusters were randomly assigned to four arms: a control arm; HI; LSM; and HI + LSM. Malawi NMCP interventions and community engagement were used in all arms. Household-level, cross-sectional surveys were conducted on a rolling, 2-monthly basis to measure parasitological and entomological outcomes over 3 years, beginning with one baseline year. The primary outcome was the entomological inoculation rate (EIR). Secondary outcomes included mosquito density, Plasmodium falciparum prevalence, and haemoglobin levels. All outcomes were assessed based on intention to treat, and comparisons between trial arms were conducted at both cluster and household level.ResultsEighteen clusters derived from 53 villages with 4558 households and 20,013 people were randomly assigned to the four trial arms. The mean nightly EIR fell from 0.010 infectious bites per person (95% CI 0.006-0.015) in the baseline year to 0.001 (0.000, 0.003) in the last year of the trial. Over the full trial period, the EIR did not differ between the four trial arms (p = 0.33). Similar results were observed for the other outcomes: mosquito density and P. falciparum prevalence decreased over 3 years of sampling, while haemoglobin levels increased; and there were minimal differences between the trial arms during the trial period.ConclusionsIn the context of high insecticide-treated bed net use, neither community-based HI, LSM, nor HI + LSM contributed to further reductions in malaria transmission or prevalence beyond the reductions observed over two years across all four trial arms. This was the first trial, as far as the authors are aware, to test the potential complementary impact of LSM and/or HI beyond levels achieved by standard interventions. The unexpectedly low EIR values following intervention implementation indicated a promising reduction in malaria transmission for the area, but also limited the usefulness of this outcome for measuring differences in malaria transmission among the trial arms. Trial registration PACTR, PACTR201604001501493, Registered 3 March 2016, https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/ .Citation
McCann, R. S., Kabaghe, A. N., Moraga, P., Gowelo, S., Mburu, M. M., Tizifa, T., … Phiri, K. S. (2021). The effect of community-driven larval source management and house improvement on malaria transmission when added to the standard malaria control strategies in Malawi: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Malaria Journal, 20(1). doi:10.1186/s12936-021-03769-0Sponsors
We thank African Parks, The Hunger Project, the Malawi National Malaria Control Programme and the Chikwawa District Health Office for their signifcant and practical contributions in facilitating the study. We are grateful to the entire Majete Malaria Project team for their tireless eforts in carrying out the study. The population of the study area is thanked for their partnership in the project and cooperation with the study. We also thank: Alexandra Hiscox foradvice on mosquito sampling and study design; Jeroen Spitzen for logistical assistance; Prosper Chaki for his valuable advice on LSM implementation; Tumaini Malenga and Marrit van den Berg for collaboration on socio-behavioral aspects of the study; and Martin Donnelly, Karl Seydel, and their respective laboratory teams for assistance in molecular identifcation of malaria parasites and anopheline mosquitoes.Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLCJournal
Malaria journalPubMed ID
34022912ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1186/s12936-021-03769-0
Scopus Count
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Related articles
- Assessment of the effect of larval source management and house improvement on malaria transmission when added to standard malaria control strategies in southern Malawi: study protocol for a cluster-randomised controlled trial.
- Authors: McCann RS, van den Berg H, Diggle PJ, van Vugt M, Terlouw DJ, Phiri KS, Di Pasquale A, Maire N, Gowelo S, Mburu MM, Kabaghe AN, Mzilahowa T, Chipeta MG, Takken W
- Issue date: 2017 Sep 22
- Cost of community-led larval source management and house improvement for malaria control: a cost analysis within a cluster-randomized trial in a rural district in Malawi.
- Authors: Phiri MD, McCann RS, Kabaghe AN, van den Berg H, Malenga T, Gowelo S, Tizifa T, Takken W, van Vugt M, Phiri KS, Terlouw DJ, Worrall E
- Issue date: 2021 Jun 13
- House modifications for preventing malaria.
- Authors: Furnival-Adams J, Olanga EA, Napier M, Garner P
- Issue date: 2020 Oct 15
- Community-based malaria control in southern Malawi: a description of experimental interventions of community workshops, house improvement and larval source management.
- Authors: van den Berg H, van Vugt M, Kabaghe AN, Nkalapa M, Kaotcha R, Truwah Z, Malenga T, Kadama A, Banda S, Tizifa T, Gowelo S, Mburu MM, Phiri KS, Takken W, McCann RS
- Issue date: 2018 Jul 16
- Exploring the impact of house screening intervention on entomological indices and incidence of malaria in Arba Minch town, southwest Ethiopia: A randomized control trial.
- Authors: Getawen SK, Ashine T, Massebo F, Woldeyes D, Lindtjørn B
- Issue date: 2018 May