Table 2 Main findings for all single-component interventions (n = 24)
Author Year | Country VBDs | Study design Sample size Duration | Components of interventiona | Effectiveness of intervention based on outcomes measuresb | Challenges faced, lessons learned and/or recommendations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chemical application (n = 7) | |||||
Ocampo et al. (2014) [25] | Colombia Dengue | • Quanti non randomized • All 4800 street catch basins of the city (compared to a similar size city) • 18 months | • Productivity assessment of potential breeding sites indoor and outdoor (based on PPI) • Monthly application of pyriproxyfen in all street catch basins (designated as most productive breeding sites) | •↓ catch basins positivity for Aedes larvae after each monthly treatment (P < 0.001) • ↓ dengue incidence in Buga compared to Palmira (similar city) (rate ratio 0.19, 95% CI: 0.12–0.30, P < 0.0001) • No epidemic outbreaks occurred in Buga, while one occurred in Palmira | Involvement of field staff in designing and operationalizing entomological surveillance is important. Street catch basins are important breeding sites and their targeted control could help to decrease dengue transmission, especially in a context of hyper-endemicity such as Buga. |
Ansari et al. (2001) [35] | India Malaria | • Quanti non randomized • 204 flats (= 992 people) in intervention and number of flats unknown (= 750 people) in control • 3 years | • Deltamethrin (insecticide) sprayed on both sides of cotton fabric curtains | • ↓ Indoor resting mosquitoes (87.9–93.7%, P < 0.05) and domestic pests (67.9–85.7%, P < 0.05) • ↓95.4% reduction in malaria cases per 1000 population | Insecticide-treated mosquito window and door curtains, along with legislative measures, may provide cost-effective (< USD 1) concurrent control of mosquitoes and other domestic pests. |
Barrera et al. (2008) [41] | Puerto Rico Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti non-randomized • 1400 households in intervention area and 1500 households in control area (= 2900 households) • 3 months | • Containers likely to be aquatic habitats turned over and ones too large to be turned treated with 1 ppm methoprene • Spatial analysis using geographical information system to analyze the density of adult mosquitoes and detect hot-spots | • No differences in number of mosquitoes resting indoors • Spatial analysis revealed high-value clusters at 3 weeks (Z = 3.6, P < 0.01) and 5 weeks (Z = 7.55, P < 0.01) post-intervention • Septic tanks produced ~ 18 000 Ae. aegypti/day, or 4.4 Ae. aegypti adults/person/day • Septic tanks contribute significantly to the maintenance of dengue virus endemicity | Control of Ae. aegypti in surface container is not sufficient to prevent dengue transmission. Visual detection of aquatic habitats of Ae. aegypti is not sufficient to assess adult mosquito productivity and thorough assessments of all public services can guide entomological surveys of Ae. aegypti. |
Castro et al. (2007) [42] | Colombia Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti non- randomized • 200 households with permethrin and 126 for cypermethrin and unknown number of controls • 6 months | • Indoor ULV high-cis permethrin (Depe) (3 sprayings) and β-cypermethrin pyrethroids (1 spraying) in a smoke-generating formulation | • ↓ 82% mosquito density 24 h post 3rd spraying high-cis permethrin • ↓ 94% mosquito density 24 h post 1st spraying β-cypermethrin pyrethroids • No maintained reduction in mosquito density throughout 5 weeks | β-cypermethrin pyrethroids = potential alternative to organophosphate insecticides |
Farajollahi et al. (2012) [43] | USA Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti non-randomized • 1250 parcels (homes + yards) in intervention area and 1064 parcels in control area (n = 2314 parcels) • 3 years | • Application of a novel adulticide DUET® between 1∶30 am–6∶30 am once or twice | • Single application at full label rate = ↓ 72.7 ± 5.4% mosquitoes recovered in traps. • Dual applications at mid-label rate spaced 1 or 2 days = ↓ 85.0 ± 5.4% mosquitoes trapped (more effective P = 0.003) | Night time ULV adulticiding is effective in reducing Ae. albopictus abundance at mid-label rate with dual application. |
Perich et al. (2001) [44] | Honduras Not VBD specific (Ae. Aegypti) | • Quanti non-randomized • 6 houses in 5 city blocks (n = 30 households) • 4 months | • 4 treatment groups: ULV at front door, ULV in each room, thermal fog at front door or thermal fog in each room Chemical used? | • 24 h after: no mosquitoes collected in most houses of all groups • 4 weeks after: ↓ mosquitoes collected (P < 0.05) with both ULV spraying and thermal fog at the door • Starting 5th week: ↑ mosquitoes collected but still 2–4 times fewer than in control (differences with control during the 7 weeks post-intervention; P < 0.0001) | The use of ULV spray at front door is faster and more cost-effective since 1 spray operator could treat 75 houses in a day. |
Cetin et al. (2006) [66] | Turkey Not VBD specific (Culex pipiens) | • Quanti descriptive • 7 septic tanks per group (n = 28 septic tanks) • 7 weeks | • Wet powder or granular formulation of diflubenzuron applied to groups of 4 septic tanks at different concentrations (0.01, 0.02, and 0.03 mg (AI)/liter) | • ↓ 100% adult Cx. pipiens in septic tanks with both formulations of diflubenzuron at 0.02 and 0.03 mg (AI/litre) (7, 14, 21 and 28 days post-treatment) • Water quality parameters influenced the field efficacy of larvicides | It is suggested that diflubenzuron may prove to be more useful in septic tanks for effective control of Cx. pipiens than currently used organophosphate larvicide. |
Source reduction and/or educational campaigns (n = 3) | |||||
Marquetti et al. (2006) [26] | Cuba Dengue | • Quanti descriptive • 156 households • 9 months | • All buildings inspected for water containers inside and outside of households: visual assessment of presence of organic matter and removal of infested water | • 5 troughs (0.71%) with an average of 6.4 pupae/trough. • 100% of positive troughs were dog troughs • Troughs were mainly placed at shadowed sites, in the backyard of houses, and had abundant organic matter | The population should be informed that drinking water should be replaced daily to decrease the number of breeding sites and at the same time improve the animals’ health. |
Saurabh et al. (2014) [27] | India Dengue | • Descriptive • 351 participants • 2 weeks | • Individual health education (10 min) with pamphlet distribution giving information regarding source reduction (photographs and key messages) | • Practices regarding dengue prevention ↑ as compared to baseline measures: • ↑ 15.7% use of any methods for protection from mosquito bites during day time • ↑ 35% draining of unused tires • ↑ 26.7% draining of coolers | Individual health education was effective in improving the practice of source reduction in a community with poor knowledge of vector biting and breeding habits. |
Alvarado et al. (2006) [36] | Colombia Malaria | • Mixed methods (descriptive) • 314 non-exposed and 347 exposed (= 661 women) • 3 months | • Community health workers trained 6 years ago to educate their community • Six interviewers visited households (semi-structured questionnaire) to do a post-intervention evaluation | • 14% in contact with intervention materials • ↑ attention to febrile episodes • ↑ use of bed nets (OR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.23–0.93) • ↑ fumigation practice (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.19–0.75) • ↓ Malaria cases (25% to 17%) | Accessibility and availability of material does not guarantee its use. |
Tsuzuki et al. (2009) [45] | Viet Nam Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti descriptive • 26 premises in 6 areas (n = 122 premises) • 10 months | • All water storage containers indoors and outdoors inspected followed by installation of water supply system | • Drastic ↓ in the number of plastic buckets and water jars was reported between the first and second surveys • ↓ all entomological indexes (BI, CI, HI, PPI) in both intervention and control areas | Installation of a water supply system = ↓ number of water storage containers, such as plastic buckets and water jars. But remaining containers were still an important source of Ae. aegypti pupae. |
Healy et al. (2014) [62] | USA Not VBD specific (Ae. albopictus) | • Quanti non-randomized • Around 800 households • 3 months | • Recruitment of volunteers from AmeriCorps and training (mosquito biology and role-playing techniques) • Community education included: [1] door-to-door active education (actively walking around the front and back yard with the resident, describing current and potential mosquito habitats + distributing educational material), [2] tire pick-up days, [3] trash can drilling days, and [4] media releases. | In both counties: • ↓ in unmanaged containers/home after intervention not sustained in following months but stayed under levels of control • spatial analysis: treatment sites = ↑ source reduction behavior vs continued ↑ in container habitats in control area • No clear effect on infestation levels | Recommended that an active education campaign could better promote source reduction behavior in the community to prevent peridomestic mosquitoes, rather than of passive education measure (distribution of pamphlets). |
Bodner et al. (2016) [61] | USA Not VBD specific (Culex pipiens) | • Quanti RCT • 40 houses in 6 areas (n = 240 households) • 2 years | • Distribution of educational print materials included a calendar, a notepad, a flyer, and a magnet with pictorial and written mosquito education information | • ↓ concern for mosquito-borne illnesses • No effect on water-source and mosquito-infested containers | Print educational materials may have unintended negative effects on resident attitudes and household management of mosquito production. |
Ensink et al. (2007) [67] | Pakistan Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti descriptive • 6 ponds in intervention and 6 ponds in control • 6 months | • Sanitization of waste ponds: reducing amount of floating matter + eliminating emergent vegetation + repairing cracks in the cement structure | •↓ 0% positive sample water for Anopheles and almost 0 for Culex in intervention ponds vs 19.2% and 34.0% respectively in control ponds | Recommended that vegetation management and maintenance of the concrete structures and waste inflow to waste stabilization ponds be improved in areas with a risk of mosquito-borne diseases. |
Traps disposal (n = 4) | |||||
Ratovonjato et al. (2003) [40] | Madagascar Plague | • Quanti RCT • 212 treated boxes in intervention area and 214 empty boxes in control area (=426 boxes) • 8 months | • Kartman boxes (wooden tunnel-like boxes having biscuits like baits containing a rodenticide and insecticide for fleas) placed | • ↑ Rats found dead: 968 in treated area vs 3 in control • Between J120–180: ↓ Prevalence of rats with fleas: 0% in treated area vs 60% in control area • Between J120–180: ↓ Cheopis index at 0 in treated area and 5.0 in control area | Kartman bait-boxes reached the rat borne and the vectors of plague found in urban area. This method can be used extensively both during epidemic and inter-epidemic contexts. |
Barrera et al. (2014) [46] | Puerto Rico Not VBD specific (Ae Aegypti) | • Quanti non-randomized • 327 houses intervention and 241 houses control (n = 568 houses) • 1 year | • 3–4 CDC autocidal gravid ovitraps (AGO) per home (source reduction, larviciding, and oviciding before ovitraps installation) | • ↓ female Ae. aegypti (53–70%) • 3–4 AGO/home prevented outbreaks after rainy season | AGO traps were useful and inexpensive mosquito surveillance devices compatible with other control measures. |
Nagpal et al. (2015) [47] | India Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti and albopictus) | • Quanti RCT • Over 9000 houses in 3 districts • 3 phases over 6 years | • Meetings with communities; posters/pamphlets were distributed and then 2–4 ovitraps placed inside and outside of houses: half with attracticide C21, half without | • District 1: positive ovitraps with attracticide = 2.96% vs control = 1.41% (P < 0.05) • District 2: Positive ovitraps with attracticide = 1.25% vs control = 1.52% (P > 0.05) • District 3: Positive ovitraps with attracticide = 22.70% vs control = 21.38% (P < 0.05) | Chemical treatment using C21 attracticide has potential for surveillance and management of dengue and chikungunya mosquitoes. Recommendation for improvement of C21 delivery system, currently liquid formulation, but tablet formulation would be a better option. |
Perich et al. (2003) [48] | Brazil Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti RCT • 30 houses intervention and 30 houses control in 2 cities (= 120 houses) • 3 months | • 5 lethal ovitraps (LOs) treated with deltamethrin outside and 5 LOs inside households (kitchen, bathroom, living room and each bedroom). | • CI ↓in both districts (4–5 vs 10–18) • HI ↓ in both districts (0.3–0.7 vs 8–10) • ↓ number of adult Ae. aegypti females indoors in one district (from 6.8 to 3.6/house) but not in the second (∼3/house) | LO is not designed to be sole dengue control vector; rather, meant to be integrated with other VBD control methods. |
Distribution of nets (n = 3) | |||||
Lenhart et al. (2008) [28] | Haiti Dengue | • Quanti C-RCT • 18 clusters in 2 areas of 387 and 630 houses (n = 1017 houses) • 1 year | • Distribution and installation of Olyset long-lasting insecticidal bednets to all houses (average 2/house) | • 1 month after: HI: − 6.7 (95% CI: − 10.6, − 2.7; P < 0.01); BI: − 8.4 (− 14.1, − 2.6; P < 0.01) and ↓ positive ovitraps (P < 0.01) • 5 and 12 months after: ↓ all indices compared to baseline control, including in control group • 12 months after: ↓ dengue serology from 33.7 to 18.5% (P < 0.01) • Acceptance and use: 96.5% houses still had ITNs and 52.2% participants slept underneath the day before | Insecticide-treated bednets had an immediate effect on dengue vector populations after their introduction, and over the next 5–12 months, the presence of ITNs may have continued to affect vector populations and dengue transmission. |
Maciel-de-Freitas et al. (2011) [49] | Brazil Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti descriptive • Area of 867 households, each week 40 households sampled • 1 year | • 3 consecutive household pupal surveys in which all containers inspected for immature mosquitoes and classified according to type, with the most productive container types identified and covered using nylon net | • 1st survey: water tanks = most productive and thereafter covered. Rapid and intense ↓ in adult mosquito population density lasted only a few weeks • 2nd survey: ↓ infestation levels but dramatic ↑ in productivity in almost all container types. Metal drums were covered. Long-term ↓ in female mosquito density. • 3rd pupa • Survey: many fewer Ae. aegypti larvae and pupae collected but ↑ productivity in small containers | Large containers used by households for water storage were often key mosquito breeding containers where piped water distribution is irregular. Recommended that netting the most productive containers produces a drastic and long-term reduction in adult mosquito density without using chemical treatments. |
Vanlerberghe et al. (2011) [50] | Venezuela Not VBD specific (Ae. aegypti) | • Quanti descriptive (within a C-RCT design) • 10 clusters: 5 urban (1742 houses) and 5 suburban (2359 houses) (n = 4101 houses) • 3 months | • ITMs distribution: curtains (up to a maximum of 5 curtains/house) and water jar covers + 1 person from each household received information about use and maintenance | • Months following the distribution: ↓ BI (IRR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.22–0.49) and ↓ PI (IRR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.14–0.37) • 18 months follow-up: ↑ gradually PI in suburban but not in urban clusters; BI remained consistently at 55% or more below pre-intervention levels in both settings | ITMs in housing can result in significant reductions in Ae. aegypti levels when dengue vector infestations are moderate, but the magnitude of the effect depends on the coverage attained, which itself can decline rapidly over time. |
Biological agents (n = 3) | |||||
Wagatsuma et al. (2009) [38] | Bangladesh Visceral leishmaniasis or kala azar | • Quanti RCT • 770 houses intervention and 780 control (n = 1550 houses) • 1 year | • Neem oil (insecticide) sprayed bi-weekly during summer and monthly during other months indoors of households | • No differences in sero-prevalence 1 year after (6.8% in intervention vs 4.8% in control) • No differences in sandflies population numbers • Number of engorged P. argentipes in control group was 7 times higher (P = 0.002) | Neem oil extract acts as a biopesticide and may be a good alternative for effective vector control of leishmaniasis. Other benefits include complex structure of azadirachtin, which makes it difficult for insects to develop resistance. |
Tranchida et al. (2010) [63] | Argentina Not VBD specific (Culex pipiens) | • Quanti non-randomized • 3 groups of 4 drainage ditches (= 12 ditches) • 2 years | • Release of 1, 7, or 13 fish/m2 (predacious copepods) in drainage ditches | • ↓ 99% Culex pipiens larval stages within 15 weeks after introduction of the 13 fish/m2 and 22 weeks of 7 fish/m2 | Predatory fishes are appropriate for long term control of Culex pipiens in human-made aquatic habitats but chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the water are important determinants of the success of this method. |
Fimia Duarte et al. (2009) [64] | Cuba Not specific | • Quanti non-randomized • 870 tanks intervention and 870 tanks control (n = 1740 tanks) • 1 year | • Larvivorous fish obtained from local rivers deposited in water tanks for non-human consumption (3 fish/container, 2 females and 1 male). | • 8 mosquito foci were prevented per 100 reservoirs treated with fish • Able to prevent 89% of breeding deposits. | Recommended to use local species of fish only. |