VECTOR BREEDING SITE INFORMATION AS A TOOL FOR TRANSMISSION THRESHOLD ANALYSIS AND DENGUE RISK ASSESSMENT ON PENANG ISLAND, MALAYSIA
Abstract
Dengue is endemic in Malaysia and occurred mainly in the urban and suburban areas. While vaccine is currently under development, without immediate prospects for success, vector control remains the only viable method to prevent dengue transmission. The present study was conducted to assess and use pupae per person index as a tool to estimate the amount of suppression required in dengue interventions. Yearlong entomological surveys were carried out in urban-residential, urban-industrial, suburban and rural residential areas of the Penang Island. Houses were examined for the presence of water-holding containers and Aedes breeding. Pupae per person was used as indicator for determining dengue transmission threshold, assessing risk and the targeted control needed for source reduction efforts in a community. Pupae per person ranged between 0.53 to 1.09 for the study areas which indicated that the degree of suppression required to essentially eliminate the possibility of dengue transmission was estimated to be 33.3% (7 container classes), 61.5% (15 container classes), 65.5% (18 container classes) and 66.7% (13 container classes) of vector breeding containers in urban, urban industrial, suburban and rural residential areas respectively. Source reduction efforts targeting those container categories may yield significant and sustainable reductions in Aedes population in Penang Island.
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