Each year, malaria infects approximately 219 million people, resulting nearly 660,000 deaths. Most often, these are children under 5 years of age living in Africa. According to the World Malaria Report, 42 countries spray insecticides, such as DDT and pyrethroids, on the inside walls of residences to repel and/or kill mosquitoes that spread malaria. This practice is known as indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, while IRS can help control malaria, pesticide exposure can also have adverse health effects.
The Venda Health Examination of Mothers, Babies and their Environment (VHEMBE) Study investigates the potential health effects resulting from insecticides used to control malaria carrying mosquitoes in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, South Africa. We seek to clarify the effects of DDT on the health of mothers and children in a highly-exposed population. Starting in 2012 we recruited pregnant women from the Venda tribe living in South Africa to learn more about women’s exposure to IRS insecticides and possible health effects to their children. Inspired by this work and a need for more accurate data, a phone application was developed and tested in what was called the mSpray Pilot Study.
Study at a Glance: |
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Impact:
We seek to better understand the tradeoff between malaria control and health risks to mothers and children that accompany the use of IRS. Information is also needed on methods to reduce exposure to IRS insecticides among people living in sprayed homes and surrounding communities.
We work to fill critical research gaps, uncovering:
- How people are exposed to insecticides used for malaria control.
- Whether these exposures affect the health of pregnant women and children. More specifically, we investigate associations between the blood concentration of IRS insecticides and:
- Female fertility
- Gestational diabetes
- Gestational duration
- Fetal growth and infant birth weight
- Child thyroid hormone levels
- Child behavior and cognitive development
- Childhood infections and immune function
- Hypertension during pregnancy
- Urogenital anomalies
- Ways to reduce exposure to mothers and children.
Data collected as part of this study will help countries and international organizations, such as the World Health Organization to balance the potential health effects of IRS relative to its benefits.
Click here to view a directory of VHEMBE Studies.
Click here to view VHEMBE Community Outreach Videos
mSpray Cell Phone App
The mSpray: Cell Phone App Pilot Study is an extension of the VHEMBE Study testing the use of a phone app to capture IRS insecticide spray data by tracking:
- GPS coordinates of the sprayed homesteads.
- The number of rooms/shelters treated with IRS insecticides.
- Information on refilling insecticide spray cans.
Data is stored on phones and transferred over the internet to a secure server, where it can be analyzed in real time as sprayings occur.
mSpray is working to:
- Institute this technology throughout Limpopo, South Africa.
- Help researchers and the Malaria Control Programme capture accurate records of IRS insecticide data.
- Use the data collected with mSpray to refine exposure assessment in our Vhembe mapping project.
Details:
- Principal Investigator: Dr. Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá
- Funder: National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences and Zinto Activations Group
- Contact: Dr. Lesliam Quirós-Alcalá at lquiros@berkeley.edu