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Appropriate technology in vector control
Parasitology Today, voi. 7, no. 4, 199 /
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the USA for the chemotherapy of G. lamblia infection and is not recommended in late pregnancy for trichomoniasis, owing to 'concerns about potential mutagenicity' (for which there is absolutely no evidence in humans); short, high-dose regimens are not recommended. Albendazole does not figure under toxocariasis, capillariasis or intestinal nematode infections, hence the comment 'Thiabendazole . . . is the only known
effective agent' for strongyloidiasis. More detail would also be useful on albendazole in hydatid disease. Taking into account the vast number of individuals afflicted by the human parasitoses, the editors of the fourth edition should seriously consider expanding the sections devoted to parasitology. British physicians will get more satisfaction, especially for patient management, from books written and pub-
lished on this side of the Atlantic. But without doubt this is a massive achievement, and between these blue covers there lies a vast amount of crystallized knowledge.
Appropriate Technology in Vector Control
are ways in which communities can be given incentives to manage their environment to make it unsuitable for mosquito breeding (chapters 6-8) and to prevent houses and latrines from becoming havens for bugs, flies, cockroaches or mosquitoes (chapters 10 and I I ). Chapters 4, 5 and 9 suggest ways in which repellents and genetic control might be made relevant in the villages of the Third World. Chapters 12 and 13 discuss ways in which methods of proven effectiveness can graduate from field trials to operational use in the next century to protect billions of people who will live in the tropics. Most examples are drawn from mosquito control, with a few from the control of other species such as the tsetse fly and ticks. One can find detailed descriptions (including methodology, implementation and evaluation) of field trials with impregnated mosquito bednets against malaria vectors in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Other topics include the use of traps and insecticidal screens for tsetse control in Africa, environment management for control of filaria and dengue virus vectors in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the use of biological agents against mosquito larvae breeding in rice fields and water containers, and the insect-proofing and proper design of houses and sanitation systems. Other methods are briefly described as they need further research and are not yet ready for field implementation (genetic control, pheromones, insect growth regulators and others).
The data presented show that vector control alone very often does not lead to the elimination of diseases. Therefore, the book advocates an integrated approach to vector and disease control, although there is no special chapter on this subject. In many cases, specialists are inclined to favour the more complicated solutions for disease prevention and expect a 'superdrug' or 'supervaccine', when simple and less expensive methods would suffice. In vast territories, diseases such as malaria, yellow and dengue fever and schistosomiasis are reduced or eradicated due to significant changes in human behaviour. Very interesting social and economic aspects of vector control are discussed in the last chapters of the book. It is concluded that only through active community participation and appropriate technology would it be possible to sustain control at relatively low costs over a long period. Authors do not impose their views on the reader but rather provide him or her with data for choosing suitable methods of vector control. The book is easy to read and well illustrated. This might be a very valuable handbook for medical entomologists and public health personnel involved in operational vector-control programmes. It is distressing, therefore, that its price will put it out of the reach of many of those working on vector control in developing countries.
edited by C.F. Curtis, CRC Press, 1990. US$139.95 (i + 233 pages) ISBN 0 8493 4755 6 In many cases, vector control remains the main and sometimes only tool for the prevention and elimination of outbreaks of several transmissible diseases. For decades, the fight against arthropod vectors was inevitably associated with massive use of chemical formulations. Thousands of tons of more and more sophisticated pesticides were used annually by disease-eradication campaigns, saving millions of human lives. Unfortunately, along with such good achievements, a number of other very serious problems were created, eg. resistance in many groups of vectors, pollution of the environment, altered ecosystems and the killing of nontarget organisms. This book addresses the problem of how to avoid or lessen the undesirable effects of pesticides through a variety of appropriate technology measures. 'Appropriate' is considered here to mean 'a small-scale technology of the kind that communities, especially in tropical developing countries, can manage for themselves with minimal input from outside'. A large team of eminent experts (58 authors from 26 countries) possessing first-hand practical experience with vector control was assembled and given the task of summarizing various innovative approaches to the problem. This book does not condemn pesticides but emphasizes ideas concerning the rational use of new, safe and quickacting synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (products of high technology) where the target species are bound to contact them, be it on bednets (chapter 2), in tsetse baits (chapter 3), or even in mouse nesting material to control ticks and fleas (chapter 5). Other themes in the book
G.C. Cook
Department of Clinical Sciences Hospital for Tropical Diseases 4 St PancrasWay London NW I 0PE,UK
Boris Dobrokhotov
UNDP/World Bank/WHO SpecialProgramme for Researchand Training in Tropical Diseases(TDR) CH- 121 I Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Erratum Hydatid Disease in China Vol. 7(2), 4 6 - 5 0 T h e authors o f this paper are P.S. Craig, D, Liu and Z. Ding and not P.S. Craig, L Deshan and D. Z h a o x u n , as printed. W e apologize f o r the error.
94
the USA for the chemotherapy of G. lamblia infection and is not recommended in late pregnancy for trichomoniasis, owing to 'concerns about potential mutagenicity' (for which there is absolutely no evidence in humans); short, high-dose regimens are not recommended. Albendazole does not figure under toxocariasis, capillariasis or intestinal nematode infections, hence the comment 'Thiabendazole . . . is the only known
effective agent' for strongyloidiasis. More detail would also be useful on albendazole in hydatid disease. Taking into account the vast number of individuals afflicted by the human parasitoses, the editors of the fourth edition should seriously consider expanding the sections devoted to parasitology. British physicians will get more satisfaction, especially for patient management, from books written and pub-
lished on this side of the Atlantic. But without doubt this is a massive achievement, and between these blue covers there lies a vast amount of crystallized knowledge.
Appropriate Technology in Vector Control
are ways in which communities can be given incentives to manage their environment to make it unsuitable for mosquito breeding (chapters 6-8) and to prevent houses and latrines from becoming havens for bugs, flies, cockroaches or mosquitoes (chapters 10 and I I ). Chapters 4, 5 and 9 suggest ways in which repellents and genetic control might be made relevant in the villages of the Third World. Chapters 12 and 13 discuss ways in which methods of proven effectiveness can graduate from field trials to operational use in the next century to protect billions of people who will live in the tropics. Most examples are drawn from mosquito control, with a few from the control of other species such as the tsetse fly and ticks. One can find detailed descriptions (including methodology, implementation and evaluation) of field trials with impregnated mosquito bednets against malaria vectors in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands. Other topics include the use of traps and insecticidal screens for tsetse control in Africa, environment management for control of filaria and dengue virus vectors in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the use of biological agents against mosquito larvae breeding in rice fields and water containers, and the insect-proofing and proper design of houses and sanitation systems. Other methods are briefly described as they need further research and are not yet ready for field implementation (genetic control, pheromones, insect growth regulators and others).
The data presented show that vector control alone very often does not lead to the elimination of diseases. Therefore, the book advocates an integrated approach to vector and disease control, although there is no special chapter on this subject. In many cases, specialists are inclined to favour the more complicated solutions for disease prevention and expect a 'superdrug' or 'supervaccine', when simple and less expensive methods would suffice. In vast territories, diseases such as malaria, yellow and dengue fever and schistosomiasis are reduced or eradicated due to significant changes in human behaviour. Very interesting social and economic aspects of vector control are discussed in the last chapters of the book. It is concluded that only through active community participation and appropriate technology would it be possible to sustain control at relatively low costs over a long period. Authors do not impose their views on the reader but rather provide him or her with data for choosing suitable methods of vector control. The book is easy to read and well illustrated. This might be a very valuable handbook for medical entomologists and public health personnel involved in operational vector-control programmes. It is distressing, therefore, that its price will put it out of the reach of many of those working on vector control in developing countries.
edited by C.F. Curtis, CRC Press, 1990. US$139.95 (i + 233 pages) ISBN 0 8493 4755 6 In many cases, vector control remains the main and sometimes only tool for the prevention and elimination of outbreaks of several transmissible diseases. For decades, the fight against arthropod vectors was inevitably associated with massive use of chemical formulations. Thousands of tons of more and more sophisticated pesticides were used annually by disease-eradication campaigns, saving millions of human lives. Unfortunately, along with such good achievements, a number of other very serious problems were created, eg. resistance in many groups of vectors, pollution of the environment, altered ecosystems and the killing of nontarget organisms. This book addresses the problem of how to avoid or lessen the undesirable effects of pesticides through a variety of appropriate technology measures. 'Appropriate' is considered here to mean 'a small-scale technology of the kind that communities, especially in tropical developing countries, can manage for themselves with minimal input from outside'. A large team of eminent experts (58 authors from 26 countries) possessing first-hand practical experience with vector control was assembled and given the task of summarizing various innovative approaches to the problem. This book does not condemn pesticides but emphasizes ideas concerning the rational use of new, safe and quickacting synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (products of high technology) where the target species are bound to contact them, be it on bednets (chapter 2), in tsetse baits (chapter 3), or even in mouse nesting material to control ticks and fleas (chapter 5). Other themes in the book
G.C. Cook
Department of Clinical Sciences Hospital for Tropical Diseases 4 St PancrasWay London NW I 0PE,UK
Boris Dobrokhotov
UNDP/World Bank/WHO SpecialProgramme for Researchand Training in Tropical Diseases(TDR) CH- 121 I Geneva 27, Switzerland.
Erratum Hydatid Disease in China Vol. 7(2), 4 6 - 5 0 T h e authors o f this paper are P.S. Craig, D, Liu and Z. Ding and not P.S. Craig, L Deshan and D. Z h a o x u n , as printed. W e apologize f o r the error.