Hello everyone, It’s me Panatchaya Somaree Student ID 6438168.
1. I will begin my discussion with the routine work of vector surveillance for malaria.
First of all, I agree with one of my friend’s point that in order to do vector surveillance, you need to understand the objectives beforehand. The objectives indicate the scope of work and facilitate a better planning.
Objectives: For the objectives of the vector surveillance would be to identify the transmission pattern, to investigate the habits and habitats of the local vector species, to monitor the seasonality and abundance of vector population in term of early warning of malaria outbreak and also to plan for a vector control program (select the appropriate method with appropriate time and place).
Planning: After we understand the objectives, we should consider the timing and the manpower in order to select the appropriate study design (such as cross-sectional study, retrospective study or experimental study) and the appropriate sampling methods (how many samples and which methods).
– The suitable types of mosquito survey (such as preliminary survey, regular/trend observation, spot checks or foci investigation) should be considered and also the collection techniques of larvae or adults are needed as well.
– We need to concern about the biology of what we collect in this case are Anopheles mosquitoes so we could decide the methods of handling and preserving. Then we could prepare a list of equipments needed (such as dippers for collecting the larvae or silica beads for handling ).
– Moreover, we should also plan what to record (such as time/date, place, collector), how to report and analyze the data for example generate the data with Microsoft Excel and analyze in terms of graphs to facilitate the interpretation and conclusion.
2. For the Thai-Myanmar border in Tak province’s malaria outbreak situation, in term of
– Objectives:
1. To identify the causes of malaria outbreak in this area (such as human factors, seasonal period, insecticide resistance, high vector density)
2. To identify the species of mosquito vector responsible for malaria transmission in this area
3. To effectively control of malarial vector
4. To evaluate the efficacy of the vector control program
– Planning:
1. Evaluate the malaria outbreak situation in this area and gather all related information
2. Select the appropriate study design. I agree with my friends that the cross-sectional study should be conduct in this case because it’s quick and we want to collect the data only during this outbreak period in order to quick control of the outbreak
3. Select the appropriate sampling techniques. We need to know the habits and habitats of this vector species first such as the potential breeding sites or the resting places. In my opinion, we should use the systematic sampling. We need to know the sample size and sampling interval.
4. We should know the timing and the manpower beforehand in order to separate the tasks responsibilities.
– Program activities: The manpower should be considered in order to create timetables. We might separate into groups like the one responsible for the mosquito survey could active in the evening and the one responsible for generating or analyzing data could active during daytime. This could help in less time consuming and balancing the workloads.
– Methods:
There are various methods for mosquito collection based on which stage we want to collect. In this case, for the adult stage of Anopheles mosquito collection, the trapping method should be use such as the BG trapping or CDC light trapping. For the immature stage, the dipping method using the dippers should perform. After mosquito collection, we need good methods in order to maintain the best quality prior to the laboratory detection including handling, preserving and transporting. For handling the mosquitoes, we use silica gel to absorb moisture and prevent fungi. The transportation of alive mosquitoes requires the primary and secondary containers. The primary container must be covered with the ice pack to maintain the cold temperature. The preservation of mosquito can perform in 70-80% of ethanol for immature stage. The adult stage can preserved by pinning. All of the samples must be labelled or coded. Then, the identification of mosquito species will be perform in the next step using the morphology identification and molecular techniques.
– Analysis: Gathering the collected data and generate the data in terms of graphs with the programs such as Microsoft Excel. Some data should be calculated according to the formula before concluding. After analyzing concluding should be done.
– Reports: The reports should include the methods and techniques using, conclusion and results of this program. The explanation whether the results could meet the objectives or not. The discussion about the successful and failure from this program. The methods to deal with those mistakes. As well as, how to bring these informations to apply in the new vector control program.
Thank you very much.