Entomological surveys
malaria, haemolysis
MALARIA
Three rounds of entomological surveys were conducted before IRS application (between October 2020 to April 2021). In the period post IRS application, the first mosquito collections were performed 1 month after and subsequently every 2 months for up to 18 months. During each round, data were collected on the abundance, biting behaviour, and sporozoite rate of the main malaria vector in each village/cluster in the study area. Mosquito sampling was primarily performed using human landing catches (HLCs). During each collection round, HLCs were performed for 2 nights, in randomly selected houses in each cluster. Six houses per cluster were used per HLC round per cluster both pre and post-IRS intervention. For each house, 4 consenting human volunteer mosquito collectors worked in pairs with one collecting mosquitoes indoors and the other outdoors. Collections were performed between 07:00 pm and 07:00 a.m. with pairs alternating after 6 h i.e., 07:00 p.m. to 01:00 a.m. and 01:00 a.m. to 07:00 a.m. Collectors sat on chairs indoors or outdoors with their legs exposed and used flashlights, catching all mosquitoes landing on their legs with haemolysis tubes. To allow assessment of peak mosquito biting hours, each hour’s collection was kept separately.Mosquitoes sampled from each household were counted and morphologically identified to species using appropriate taxonomic keysVector density indicated by the number of main vector mosquitoes collected by HLC per night/houseHuman biting rate (HBR) indicated by the number of main vector mosquitoes collected through HLC per number of man nights.Sporozoite rate (SR) indicated by the proportion of sporozoite positive main vector mosquitoes identified through CSP-ELISA.Entomological Inoculation Rate (EIR) estimated by HBR x SR.To investigate the mechanisms of resistance in the vector population and how these may have changed post-intervention, a sub-sample of wild adult mosquitoes collected in households were analysed for the presence of target site insecticide resistance genes. Detection of L1014F 