Irshad Hammad Atif, Jehanzeb Hamzah, Yaseen Ayesha, Saleem Umair, Javaid Muhammad Daniyal, Tareen Hafsa Khan, Mukhtar Muhammad, Silviera Henrique, Beg Mohammad Asim
Medical College, Aga Khan University, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan.
Directorate of Malaria Control, Islamabad, Pakistan.
BMC Infect Dis. 2025 Jul 29;25(1):953. doi: 10.1186/s12879-025-11347-x.
Malaria remains a significant public health concern in Pakistan due to its subtropical climate and diverse array of vectors, which contribute to periodic outbreaks and challenges in disease control. Recent outbreaks-particularly in 2022-along with the rising incidence of Plasmodium falciparum and growing resistance of Anopheles mosquito vector to existing control methods, highlight a critical gap in understanding the effectiveness of current malaria vector control strategies. This article is a scoping review of published literature on malaria prevention methods with a focus on World Health Organization (WHO) outlined interventions in the endemic region of the lower middle-income country, Pakistan.
Relevant articles published in all languages before September 2023 were reviewed. All the articles were obtained from PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Embase and Google Scholar. Four independent reviewers performed the selection and characterization of articles based on defined inclusion criteria. The data collected were extracted and analyzed by province, vector, and vector control methods according to WHO recommendations.
A total of 46 articles reporting surveillance findings on vector control methods in Pakistan were found. Based on WHO recommendations, the reported strategies included insecticide-treated nets (ITN) (29.79%), indoor residual spraying (IRS) (29.79%), spatial spraying (12.77%), spatial/airborne repellents (4.26%), larval source management (4.26%) and house modifications (4.26%). In contrast to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which employs ITN (55%) as the primary vector control method, Punjab was found to use IRS as the main method of vector control (50%).
This review highlights the current strategies for controlling malaria vectors and the strategies used in the past for outbreaks in Pakistan. This review identifies a notable increase in the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) over time and highlights differences in the implementation of vector control strategies across provinces in Pakistan. Current practices and their contrast to WHO guidelines are illustrated. It helps us understand the need for improved research and development with precise reporting. These findings can serve as a reference for guiding policy decisions and improving malaria control efforts in endemic regions.
由于巴基斯坦的亚热带气候和多种病媒，疟疾仍然是该国一个重大的公共卫生问题，这导致了疟疾的周期性爆发以及疾病控制方面的挑战。近期的疫情爆发，特别是在2022年，以及恶性疟原虫发病率的上升和按蚊病媒对现有控制方法耐药性的增加，凸显了在了解当前疟疾病媒控制策略有效性方面的关键差距。本文是一篇关于疟疾预防方法的文献综述，重点关注世界卫生组织（WHO）在低收入中等收入国家巴基斯坦的流行地区概述的干预措施。
对2023年9月之前以所有语言发表的相关文章进行了综述。所有文章均从PubMed、Scopus、CINAHL、Embase和谷歌学术搜索中获取。四名独立评审员根据既定的纳入标准对文章进行了筛选和特征描述。收集的数据按照WHO的建议，按省份、病媒和病媒控制方法进行了提取和分析。
共发现46篇报告巴基斯坦病媒控制方法监测结果的文章。根据WHO的建议，报告的策略包括经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐（ITN）（29.79%）、室内滞留喷洒（IRS）（29.79%）、空间喷洒（12.77%）、空间/空气驱避剂（4.26%）、幼虫源管理（4.26%）和房屋改造（4.26%）。与将ITN（55%）作为主要病媒控制方法的开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省不同，旁遮普省被发现将IRS作为病媒控制的主要方法（50%）。
本综述强调了巴基斯坦目前控制疟疾病媒的策略以及过去疫情爆发时所采用的策略。本综述指出，随着时间的推移，经杀虫剂处理的蚊帐（ITN）的使用显著增加，并突出了巴基斯坦各省在病媒控制策略实施方面的差异。阐述了当前的做法及其与WHO指南的对比。它有助于我们理解加强精确报告的研发工作的必要性。这些发现可为指导政策决策和改善流行地区的疟疾控制工作提供参考。
