Hahn-Schickard, Georges-Koehler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany.
Laboratory for MEMS Applications, IMTEK-Department of Microsystems Engineering, University of Freiburg, Georges-Koehler-Allee 103, 79110 Freiburg, Germany.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Feb 3;15(2):259. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15020259.
Monitoring malaria prevalence in humans, as well as vector populations, for the presence of , is an integral component of effective malaria control, and eventually, elimination. In the field of human diagnostics, a major challenge is the ability to define, precisely, the causative agent of fever, thereby differentiating among several candidate (also non-malaria) febrile diseases. This requires genetic-based pathogen identification and multiplexed analysis, which, in combination, are hardly provided by the current gold standard diagnostic tools. In the field of vectors, an essential component of control programs is the detection of species within its mosquito vectors, particularly in the salivary glands, where the infective sporozoites reside. In addition, the identification of species composition and insecticide resistance alleles within vector populations is a primary task in routine monitoring activities, aiming to support control efforts. In this context, the use of converging diagnostics is highly desirable for providing comprehensive information, including differential fever diagnosis in humans, and mosquito species composition, infection status, and resistance to insecticides of vectors. Nevertheless, the two fields of human diagnostics and vector control are rarely combined, both at the diagnostic and at the data management end, resulting in fragmented data and mis- or non-communication between various stakeholders. To this direction, molecular technologies, their integration in automated platforms, and the co-assessment of data from multiple diagnostic sources through information and communication technologies are possible pathways towards a unified human vector approach.
监测人类疟疾流行情况以及病媒种群中疟原虫的存在，是有效疟疾控制乃至消除的一个组成部分。在人类诊断领域，一个主要挑战是能否准确确定发热的病原体，从而区分几种候选的（非疟疾）发热性疾病。这需要基于遗传学的病原体鉴定和多重分析，而目前的黄金标准诊断工具几乎无法提供这些。在病媒领域，控制规划的一个重要组成部分是检测其蚊虫病媒中的疟原虫种类，特别是在存在感染性孢子的唾液腺中。此外，鉴定病媒种群中的物种组成和杀虫剂抗性等位基因，也是常规监测活动的主要任务，旨在支持控制工作。在这种情况下，融合诊断技术的应用非常可取，因为它可以提供全面的信息，包括人类的差异化发热诊断、蚊虫的物种组成、感染状况以及对杀虫剂的抗性。然而，人类诊断和病媒控制这两个领域很少在诊断和数据管理端结合，导致数据碎片化以及各利益相关者之间的信息传递失误或不顺畅。为此，分子技术、它们在自动化平台中的集成以及通过信息和通信技术对来自多个诊断源的数据进行联合评估，是实现统一的人类-病媒方法的可能途径。
