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The entomological inoculation rate and Plasmodium falciparum infection in African children

Author

Listed:
  • D. L. Smith

    (National Institutes of Health)

  • J. Dushoff

    (National Institutes of Health
    Princeton University)

  • R. W. Snow

    (KEMRI (in the grounds of the Kenyatta Hospital)
    John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford)

  • S. I. Hay

    (KEMRI (in the grounds of the Kenyatta Hospital)
    University of Oxford)

Abstract

Once bitten... Ronald Ross won the 1902 Nobel prize for discovering the role of the mosquito in the parasite life cycle, but his later work on mathematical models for the study of its epidemiology was perhaps even more impressive. The Ross malaria model, still referred to, assumes that humans have an equal chance of a mosquito bite, and that infection clearance is unaltered by re-infection. We now know that some people are bitten more often than others, and that repeat infections slow parasite clearance. These and other new data have been incorporated in a mathematical framework to update the Ross model for the twenty-first century. Combined with data on over 90 communities infected by malaria, this reveals that variations in biting and/or susceptibility to infection are key factors determining the prevalence of infection: 20% of people receive 80% of all infections. This finding can be used to direct malaria controls at those most likely to benefit.

Suggested Citation

  • D. L. Smith & J. Dushoff & R. W. Snow & S. I. Hay, 2005. "The entomological inoculation rate and Plasmodium falciparum infection in African children," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7067), pages 492-495, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:438:y:2005:i:7067:d:10.1038_nature04024
    DOI: 10.1038/nature04024
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    Cited by:

    1. Klein, Matthew J. & Barham, Bradford L. & Wu, Yuexuan, 2019. "Gender Equality in the Family Can Reduce the Malaria Burden in Malawi," Staff Paper Series 594, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    2. Anderson, Soren T. & Laxminarayan, Ramanan & Salant, Stephen W., 2012. "Diversify or focus? Spending to combat infectious diseases when budgets are tight," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 658-675.
    3. Videlis Nduba & Lilian N. Njagi & Wilfred Murithi & Zipporah Mwongera & Jodi Byers & Gisella Logioia & Glenna Peterson & R. Max Segnitz & Kevin Fennelly & Thomas R. Hawn & David J. Horne, 2024. "Mycobacterium tuberculosis cough aerosol culture status associates with host characteristics and inflammatory profiles," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Peter W Gething & Anand P Patil & Simon I Hay, 2010. "Quantifying Aggregated Uncertainty in Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Prevalence and Populations at Risk via Efficient Space-Time Geostatistical Joint Simulation," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(4), pages 1-12, April.
    5. T Alex Perkins & Thomas W Scott & Arnaud Le Menach & David L Smith, 2013. "Heterogeneity, Mixing, and the Spatial Scales of Mosquito-Borne Pathogen Transmission," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Edmund I. Yamba & Adrian M. Tompkins & Andreas H. Fink & Volker Ermert & Mbouna D. Amelie & Leonard K. Amekudzi & Olivier J. T. Briët, 2020. "Monthly Entomological Inoculation Rate Data for Studying the Seasonality of Malaria Transmission in Africa," Data, MDPI, vol. 5(2), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Fredros O Okumu & Nicodem J Govella & Sarah J Moore & Nakul Chitnis & Gerry F Killeen, 2010. "Potential Benefits, Limitations and Target Product-Profiles of Odor-Baited Mosquito Traps for Malaria Control in Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(7), pages 1-18, July.
    8. Bree Cummins & Ricardo Cortez & Ivo M Foppa & Justin Walbeck & James M Hyman, 2012. "A Spatial Model of Mosquito Host-Seeking Behavior," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-13, May.
    9. Amal B Nourein & Mohammed A Abass & Abdel Hameed D Nugud & Ibrahim El Hassan & Robert W Snow & Abdisalan M Noor, 2011. "Identifying Residual Foci of Plasmodium falciparum Infections for Malaria Elimination: The Urban Context of Khartoum, Sudan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(2), pages 1-8, February.
    10. M Gabriela M Gomes & Marc Lipsitch & Andrew R Wargo & Gael Kurath & Carlota Rebelo & Graham F Medley & Antonio Coutinho, 2014. "A Missing Dimension in Measures of Vaccination Impacts," PLOS Pathogens, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-3, March.
    11. S.B Assi & M-C Henry & C Rogier & J Dossou-Yovo & Martine Audibert & Jacky Mathonnat & T Teuscher & P Carnevale, 2013. "Inland valley rice production systems and malaria infection and disease in the forest region of western Côte d'Ivoire," Post-Print halshs-00861288, HAL.
    12. Gilles Cottrell & Bienvenue Kouwaye & Charlotte Pierrat & Agnès le Port & Aziz Bouraïma & Noël Fonton & Mahouton Norbert Hounkonnou & Achille Massougbodji & Vincent Corbel & André Garcia, 2012. "Modeling the Influence of Local Environmental Factors on Malaria Transmission in Benin and Its Implications for Cohort Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, January.

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