Decreased bioefficacy of long-lasting insecticidal nets and the resurgence of malaria in Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest malaria transmission outside of Africa. Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are believed to have helped to reduce average malaria prevalence in PNG from 16% in 2008 to 1% in 2014. Since 2015 malaria in PNG has resurged significantly. Here, we present observa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 3646 - 7
Main Authors Vinit, Rebecca, Timinao, Lincoln, Bubun, Nakei, Katusele, Michelle, Robinson, Leanne J, Kaman, Peter, Sakur, Muker, Makita, Leo, Reimer, Lisa, Schofield, Louis, Pomat, William, Mueller, Ivo, Laman, Moses, Freeman, Tim, Karl, Stephan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Nature Publishing Group 20.07.2020
Nature Publishing Group UK
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
Animals
Anopheles - drug effects
Bioassays
Disease transmission
Distributors
Humans
Insecticide-Treated Bednets
Insecticides - pharmacology
Malaria
Malaria - epidemiology
Malaria - prevention & control
Malaria - transmission
Mosquito Control - methods
Mosquito Vectors - drug effects
Mosquitoes
Nets
Papua New Guinea - epidemiology
Pyrethrins - pharmacology
Vector-borne diseases
Papua New Guinea
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Papua New Guinea (PNG) has the highest malaria transmission outside of Africa. Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are believed to have helped to reduce average malaria prevalence in PNG from 16% in 2008 to 1% in 2014. Since 2015 malaria in PNG has resurged significantly. Here, we present observations documenting decreased bioefficacy of unused LLINs with manufacturing dates between 2013 and 2019 collected from villages and LLIN distributors in PNG. Specifically, we show that of n = 167 tested LLINs manufactured after 2013, only 17% are fulfilling the required World Health Organisation bioefficacy standards of ≥ 80% 24 h mortality or ≥ 95% 60 min knockdown in bioassays with pyrethroid susceptible Anopheles farauti mosquitoes. In contrast, all (100%, n = 25) LLINs with manufacturing dates prior to 2013 are meeting these bioefficacy standards. These results suggest that decreased bioefficacy of LLINs is contributing to the malaria resurgence in PNG and increased scrutiny of LLIN quality is warranted.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-17456-2