Department of Political Science and Geography, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
Int J Health Geogr. 2009 Dec 18;8:70. doi: 10.1186/1476-072X-8-70.
Localized mosquito larval habitat management and the use of larvicides have been proposed as important control tools in integrated malaria vector management programs. In order to optimize the utility of these tools, detailed knowledge of the spatial distribution patterns of mosquito larval habitats is crucial. However, the spatial and temporal changes of habitat distribution patterns under different climatic conditions are rarely quantified and their implications to larval control are unknown.
Using larval habitat data collected in western Kenya highlands during both dry and rainy seasons of 2003-2005, this study analyzed the seasonal and inter-annual changes in the spatial patterns in mosquito larval habitat distributions. We found that the spatial patterns of larval habitats had significant temporal variability both seasonally and inter-annually.
The pattern of larval habitats is extremely important to the epidemiology of malaria because it results in spatial heterogeneity in the adult mosquito population and, subsequently, the spatial distribution of clinical malaria cases. Results from this study suggest that larval habitat management activities need to consider the dynamic nature of malaria vector habitats.
局部的蚊虫幼虫生境管理和使用杀幼虫剂已被提议作为综合疟疾病媒管理规划中的重要控制手段。为了优化这些工具的使用效果，详细了解蚊虫幼虫生境的空间分布模式至关重要。然而，在不同气候条件下，生境分布模式的时空变化很少被量化，其对幼虫控制的影响也尚不清楚。
本研究利用 2003-2005 年期间在肯尼亚高地西部采集的蚊虫幼虫生境数据，分析了蚊虫幼虫生境分布的季节性和年际间空间格局变化。我们发现，幼虫生境的空间格局在季节性和年际间均具有显著的时间变异性。
幼虫生境的模式对疟疾的流行病学非常重要，因为它导致成蚊种群的空间异质性，进而导致临床疟疾病例的空间分布。本研究结果表明，幼虫生境管理活动需要考虑疟疾病媒生境的动态性质。
