Publicaties
Injections, cocktails and diviners Universiteit Antwerpen
Background: Adherence to effective malaria medication is extremely important in the context of Cambodia's elimination targets and drug resistance containment. Although the public sector health facilities are accessible to the local ethnic minorities of Ratanakiri province (Northeast Cambodia), their illness itineraries often lead them to private pharmacies selling "cocktails" and artemether injections, or to local diviners prescribing animal ...
An innovative tool for moving malaria PCR detection of parasite reservoir into the field Universiteit Antwerpen
Background: To achieve the goal of malaria elimination in low transmission areas such as in Cambodia, new, inexpensive, high-throughput diagnostic tools for identifying very low parasite densities in asymptomatic carriers are required. This will enable a switch from passive to active malaria case detection in the field. Methods: DNA extraction and real-time PCR assays were implemented in an "in-house" designed mobile laboratory allowing ...
Outdoor malaria transmission in forested villages of Cambodia Universiteit Antwerpen
Background: Despite progress in malaria control, malaria remains an important public health concern in Cambodia, mostly linked to forested areas. Large-scale vector control interventions in Cambodia are based on the free distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), targeting indoor- and late-biting malaria vectors only. The present study evaluated the vector density, early biting activity and malaria transmission of outdoor-biting ...
Residual transmission of malaria Universiteit Antwerpen
From **Anopheles** to spatial surveillance Universiteit Antwerpen
Nationwide inventory of mosquito biodiversity (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belgium, Europe Universiteit Antwerpen
To advance our restricted knowledge on mosquito biodiversity and distribution in Belgium, a national inventory started in 2007 (MODIRISK) based on a random selection of 936 collection points in three main environmental types: urban, rural and natural areas. Additionally, 64 sites were selected because of the risk of importing a vector or pathogen in these sites. Each site was sampled once between May and October 2007 and once in 2008 using ...
Predicted distribution of major malaria vectors belonging to the **Anopheles dirus** complex in Asia Universiteit Antwerpen
Methods derived from ecological niche modeling allow to define species distribution based on presence-only data. This is particularly useful to develop models from literature records such as available for the Anopheles dirus complex, a major group of malaria mosquito vectors in Asia. This research defines an innovative modeling design based on presence-only model and hierarchical framework to define the distribution of the complex and attempt to ...
Sero-epidemiological evaluation of changes in **Plasmodium falciparum** and **Plasmodium vivax** transmission patterns over the rainy season in Cambodia Universiteit Antwerpen
Background In Cambodia, malaria transmission is low and most cases occur in forested areas. Sero-epidemiological techniques can be used to identify both areas of ongoing transmission and high-risk groups to be targeted by control interventions. This study utilizes repeated cross-sectional data to assess the risk of being malaria sero-positive at two consecutive time points during the rainy season and investigates who is most likely to ...
Bionomics of the established exotic mosquito species **Aedes koreicus** in Belgium, Europe Universiteit Antwerpen
Adults of an exotic mosquito, Aedes (Finlaya) koreicus (Edwards) (Diptera: Culicidae) were identified by morphology and genotyping from one site in Belgium in 2008. In late summer of that year, the occurrence of adults and immature stages reconfirmed its presence. This is the first record of this species outside its native range and in particular in Europe. Two subsites of the original location were prospected from April until October 2009 with ...