How house design affects malaria mosquito density, temperature, and relative humidity: an experimental study in rural Gambia
Open accessAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Unprecedented improvements in housing are occurring across much of rural sub-Saharan Africa, but the consequences of these changes on malaria transmission remain poorly explored. We examined how different typologies of rural housing affect mosquito house entry and indoor climate. METHODS: Five typologies of mud-block houses were constructed in rural Gambia: four were traditional designs with poorly fitted doors and one was a novel design with gable windows to improve ventilation. In each house, one male volunteer slept under a bednet and mosquitoes were collected indoors with a light trap. Typologies were rotated between houses weekly. Indoor conditions were monitored with data loggers and the perceived comfort of sleepers recorded with questionnaires. We used pyschrometric modelling to quantify the comfort of the indoor climate using the logger data. Primary measurements were mean number of Anopheles gambiae and mean temperature for each house typology. FINDINGS: In thatched-roofed houses, closing the eaves reduced A gambiae house entry by 94% (95% CI 89-97) but increased the temperature compared with thatched-roofed houses with open eaves. In houses with closed eaves, those with metal roofs had more A gambiae, were hotter (1·5°C hotter [95% CI 1·3-1·7]) between 2100h and 2300 h, and had 25% higher concentrations of carbon dioxide (211·1 ppm higher [117·8-304·6]) than those with thatched roofs. In metal-roofed houses with closed eaves, mosquito house entry was reduced by 96% (91-98) by well fitted screened doors. Improved ventilation of metal-roofed houses made them as cool as thatched houses with open eaves. Metal-roofed houses with closed eaves were considered more uncomfortable than thatched ones with closed eaves. In metal-roofed houses, ventilated houses were more comfortable than unventilated houses before midnight, when people retired to bed. INTERPRETATION: Closing the eaves reduced vector entry in thatched houses but increased entry in metal-roofed houses. Metal-roofed houses with closed eaves were, however, protected against malaria vectors by well fitted screened doors and were made comfortable by increasing ventilation. House designs that exclude mosquitoes and are comfortable to live in should be a priority in sub-Saharan Africa. FUNDING: Sir Halley Stewart Trust, Global Clinical Trials, and Global Challenges Research Fund.
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Closing eaves can reduce indoor vector abundance.
“Studies have shown that closing the eaves can reduce indoor vector abundance8, 9”
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Flagged first, then by citations
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- Authors
- Jatta, E., Jawara, M., Bradley, J., Jeffries, D., Kandeh, B., Knudsen, J. B., Wilson, A. L., Pinder, M., D'Alessandro, U., & Lindsay, S. W.
- Affiliations
- MRC Unit the Gambia (GM)
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
- Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation (DK)
- Durham University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Lindsay, Steve W
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Lancet Planetary Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- e498-e508
- ISSN
- 2542-5196 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2899010353
- Cited by
- 103
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 9.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Lancet Planetary Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Architecture, Design and Conservation (Aarhus School of Architecture, Design School Kolding, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation (KADK)) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust
- Wellcome Trust
- Sir Halley Stewart Trust
- Medical Research Council (MR/M007383/1, MR/K012126/1)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/R00532X/1)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Architecture and Cultural Influences
- Keywords
- Anopheles gambiae, house design, rural housing, indoor climate, indoor temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, eaves, metal roofs, thatched roofs, ventilation, sleep comfort, malaria transmission, rural Gambia, sub-Saharan Africa, housing typology
- MeSH terms
- Mosquito Vectors, Animals, Anopheles, Gambia, Housing, Humans, Humidity, Malaria, Male, Models, Theoretical, Population Density, Rural Population, Temperature
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