Evolution of insecticide resistance diagnostics in malaria vectors

Abstract

Malaria control is reliant upon effective, programmatic-scale, anti-vector interventions. The widespread distribution of pyrethroid-treated bednets in sub-Saharan Africa has been a driver of morbidity and mortality reductions over the last decade. Unfortunately resistance to insecticides, and to pyrethroids in particular, is increasingly common in Anopheles malaria vectors, and is a major threat to continued control and future elimination. Here we argue that current methods to diagnose resistance often have limited utility and should be augmented or even partially replaced by wider application of DNA markers.

Keywords: Anopheles; DNA markers; Diagnostics; Insecticide resistance.