Role of underappreciated vectors in malaria transmission in an endemic region of Bangladesh-India border

Background Despite the efforts of the National Malaria Control Programme, malaria remains as an important public health problem in Bangladesh, particularly in the south-eastern region bordering India. Successful malaria control strategies rely on a detailed understanding of the underlying causes of malaria transmission. Here, an entomological survey was conducted in a malaria endemic area of Bangladesh bordering India to investigate the Anopheles mosquito community and assess their Plasmodium infection status. Methods Monthly entomological collections were undertaken from October 2010 to September 2011 in five villages in the Matiranga sub-district, Khagrachari district in Bangladesh, bordering the Indian State of Tripura. CDC miniature light traps were placed inside houses to collect adult Anopheles mosquitoes. Following morphological and molecular identification of the female Anopheles mosquitoes collected, they were screened for circumsporozoite proteins (CSP) of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), Plasmodium vivax-210 (Pv-210) and Plasmodium vivax-247 (Pv-247), by ELISA to determine natural infection rates. Variation in Anopheles species composition, relative abundance and Plasmodium infection rates were analysed between sampled villages. Results A total of 2,027 female Anopheles were collected, belonging to 20 species. Anopheles nivipes was the most abundant species in our test villages during the peak malaria transmission season, and was observed sympatrically with An. philippinensis in the studied area. However, in the dry off-peak season, An. jeyporiensis was the most abundant species. Shannon’s diversity index was highest in October (2.12) and evenness was highest in May (0.91). The CSP ELISA positive rate overall was 0.44%. Anopheles karwari (n = 2), An. barbirostris s.l. (n = 1) and An. vagus (n = 1) were recorded positive for Pf. Anopheles kochi (n = 1) was positive for Pv-210 while An. umbrosus (n = 1), An. nivipes (n = 1) and An. kochi (n = 1) were positive for Pv-247. A mixed infection of Pf and Pv-247 was detected in An. barbirostris s.l.. Conclusion High diversity of Anopheles species was observed in areas close to the international border where species that were underestimated for malaria transmission significantly outnumbered principal vector species and these may play a significantly heightened role in malaria transmission

Challenges and opportunities in mixed method data collection on mental health issues of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Background: The present paper describes the key challenges and opportunities of mixed method telephonic data collection for mental health research using field notes and the experiences of the investigators in a multicenter study in ten sites of India. The study was conducted in public and private hospitals to understand the mental health status, social stigma and coping strategies of different healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Methods: Qualitative and quantitative interviews were conducted telephonically. The experiences of data collection were noted as a field notes/diary by the data collectors and principal investigators.Results: The interviewers reported challenges such as network issues, lack of transfer of visual cues and sensitive content of data. Although the telephonic interviews present various challenges in mixed method data collection, it can be used as an alternative to face-to-face data collection using available technology.Conclusions: It is important that the investigators are well trained keeping these challenges in mind so that their capacity is built to deal with these challenges and good quality data is obtained

Factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian health care workers involved in COVID-19 management in India: A qualitative study

Healthcare personnel who deal with COVID-19 experience stigma. There is a lack of national-level representative qualitative data to study COVID-19-related stigma among healthcare workers in India. The present study explores factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 management. We conducted in-depth interviews across 10 centres in India, which were analysed using NVivo software version 12. Thematic and sentiment analysis was performed to gain deep insights into the complex phenomenon by categorising the qualitative data into meaningful and related categories. Healthcare workers (HCW) usually addressed the stigma they encountered when doing their COVID duties under the superordinate theme of stigma. Among them, 77.42% said they had been stigmatised in some way. Analyses revealed seven interrelated themes surrounding stigma among healthcare workers. It can be seen that the majority of the stigma and coping sentiments fall into the mixed category, followed by the negative sentiment category. This study contributes to our understanding of stigma and discrimination in low- and middle-income settings. Our data show that the emergence of fear of the virus has quickly turned into a stigma against healthcare workers

Psychosocial health and stigma among health-care workers involved in COVID19 management during the first wave of the pandemic in Mumbai: A qualitative study

Background: The unprecedented onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a huge impact on health-care facilities, leading to different psychosocial challenges among health-care workers (HCWs) during this pandemic. Aim: This study aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the work, family, and personal life of HCWs engaged in COVID-19 duties during the first wave in India and gain insights on the coping strategies. Materials and Methods: The findings from 12 qualitative in-depth interviews were analyzed and presented in this article. This study is a part of a mix-method design study conducted at two hospitals and one community site in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The present qualitative sample was drawn conveniently from the randomly selected quantitative sample chosen from the three sites. Results: This study highlights that in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs experienced transition in work life, burnout, disruption in family life, negative emotions such as fear, and experiences of stigma. The findings also reveal that while institutional workers faced discrimination and stigma outside their workplace, noninstitutional workers faced discrimination at multiple sites during traveling and at in their residential places and additionally faced harassment while working in the community. The findings also suggest that despite numerous challenges faced by HCWs, they were driven by a sense of responsibility and displayed resilience. Conclusion: Considering the HCWs as the backbone of the health-care system, it is crucial to boost and maintain the mental well-being of HCWs by providing timely and tailored interventions to sustain their resilience and build better responses to future pandemic

Number of species collected as a function of number of individual females collected by light traps near hosts (method 2).

<p>Estimated by linear regression y = -2.93 + log(x)*3.34, <i>R</i>^<i>2</i> = 0.92, <i>F</i> = 1373 and <i>p</i> < 0.001.</p

Prediction of the influence of cattle upon mosquito species relative abundance in light traps.

<p>Includes species constituting at least 5% of light trap collections. Associated linear regression results presented in <a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004249#pntd.0004249.s004" target="_blank">S3 Table</a>.</p

Prediction of the influence of birds upon mosquito species relative abundance in light traps.

<p>Includes species constituting at least 5% of light trap collections. Associated linear regression results presented in <a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004249#pntd.0004249.s004" target="_blank">S3 Table</a>.</p

Comparison between sampling methods by village.

<p>Includes species constituting at least 5% of collections from method 1 (resting collection near oviposition sites) or method 2 (light trap collection near hosts) using log odds ratio tests. Confidence intervals that do not include zero indicate significant method bias. Absence of data for a species from a village indicates the species was not observed by one or both sampling methods.</p

Species composition of samples from light traps in households with cattle, light traps in households with no cattle and resting collections, for villages where both light trap and resting collections were made.

<p>Species composition of samples from light traps in households with cattle, light traps in households with no cattle and resting collections, for villages where both light trap and resting collections were made.</p