A malaria control trial using insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis in a rural area of The Gambia West Africa 3 Entomological characteristics of the study area

Baseline entomological surveillance was carried out in a rural area of The Gambia during the rainy season in 1988, one year before the implementation of a malaria control programme using insecticide-impregnated nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis in villages with a primary health care (PHC) system. Mosquito collections took place in 6 pairs of settlements each with untreated bed nets; within each pair there was a large PHC village with a resident village health worker (VHW) and traditional birth attendant (TBA) and a smaller non-PHC village without either a VHW or a TBA. The most common vectors in the study area were Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and, to a lesser extent, An. arabiensis. These mosquitoes were found in appreciable numbers for at least 4 months of the year (geometric mean/bedroom/night = 32.5, 95% confidence interval 18.2–57.3). Numbers of mosquitoes collected in PHC villages or non-PHC villages were not significantly different. Greater numbers of mosquitoes were found in villages closer to the River Gambia than in those further away. Evidence for DDT resistance due to elevated glutathione S-transferase activity was found in one of the 12 villages, but there was no evidence of resistance to organophosphate or carbamate insecticides as suggested by the low esterase levels and carbamate sensitive acetylcholinesterase.