Malaria is a threat across the country Africa. This continent carries the burden of the world’s largest disease: 94% of cases and 96% of deaths occur across the continent. Worryingly, children under the age of five account for 80% of these deaths.
There is no room for complacency. Vaccines are looking promising, although, especially in East Africa, anti-malarial drug resistance is steadily increasing. Parasites are evolving mutations that allow them to avoid routine diagnosis. Resistance to pesticides is also increasing in mosquitoes.
This situation underscores the need to sharpen multiple vector control options and find new strategies.
My research explores one such possible strategy in which artificial light is used to trick malaria-spreading mosquito species that feed at night and behave as if it were daylight. This can prevent food, help protect people from malaria caused by mosquito bites.
New light
Light is a basic sign of nature. It controls most of the biological phenomena, such as when birds are bred, the lion Hunting And the sleep patterns of men. It is also an ancient sign. While species have been exposed to changes in the climate cycle through the ages, the time of day and night has been relatively more stable than the time of evolution due to the rotation of the earth. This means that all life on the planet has evolved with such a regular day-night cycle. The gene for the hormone melatonin, which regulates the sleep-wake cycle, is widely distributed among different and older taxonomic groups, such as plants and animals.
However, this natural dark cycle is changing rapidly as people are increasingly using artificial light. About 80% of the world’s people now live under artificially illuminated skies.
So, what effect can the use of such artificial light have on malaria?
Changes in mosquito biology
The Anopheles group of mosquitoes, responsible for all malaria cases in Africa, is a nocturnal food. After mating, females will find blood feeding. In doing so, they transfer Plasmodium The parasite that causes malaria. This is why bed nets are so effective when used properly – they prevent bites when people are sleeping at night.
Emerging research, including my own, argues that artificial light at night can alter the behavior of mosquitoes.
This is because artificial light used in homes can alter mosquito biology. For example, the short pulse of a light emitting diode (LED) light, commonly used as a “downlight” or reading lamp in homes, can delay the onset of bites in Anopheles for hours, and therefore reduce the bite rate and the transmission of malaria. The light essentially does the trick of not feeding the mosquitoes.
These ideas are promising. But strategies to control vectors do not always work on a large scale, especially if those strategies are not applied properly. For example, mosquito repellent bed nets are sometimes used as fishing nets in parts of Africa. Demonstrating the effects of artificial light in controlled laboratory settings is one thing, but rolling out their use as an effective vector control strategy is quite another.
Even if governments could easily get LED lights in many homes to protect against mosquitoes that carry malaria, there could be unintended consequences for human health. Investigating the effects of artificial light on human health. Early signs are that it can have negative effects, such as disturbed sleep.
The evolving body of research
Overall, it is not yet clear how artificial light can be used to reduce the risk of malaria infection. But a growing body of work on the issue suggests it is a concept that needs more attention. World Health Organization And other groups.
Once the effects of the use of artificial light are more fully understood, development planners across Africa will be able to ensure that the right kind of lights, in the best places and time, become part of the continent’s efforts to control malaria.
