ArticleMalaria journal2023
Digitally managed larviciding as a cost-effective intervention for urban malaria: operational lessons from a pilot in São Tomé and Príncipe guided by the Zzapp system.
Article in Malaria journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the elimination of malaria: a systematic literature review.Malaria journal · 2025Pooled it
- Sociodemographic determinants of willingness to adopt surveillance technology and mosquito control training for dengue in Malaysia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- A large-scale mosquito larviciding in Tanga Region, Tanzania, reduced mosquito densities to varying degrees across malaria transmission risk strata.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A costing analysis of an intermittent biolarviciding intervention with limited epidemiological effect in Tanga Region, Tanzania.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Heterogeneous impacts for malaria control from larviciding across villages and considerations for monitoring and evaluation.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- A non-randomized, open-label study to assess the impact of rounds of mass drug administration with artemisinin-piperaquine plus primaquine on malaria in São Tomé Island.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Elevating larval source management as a key strategy for controlling malaria and other vector-borne diseases in Africa.Parasites & vectors · 2025Review
- Larviciding for malaria control and elimination in Africa.Malaria journal · 2025Review
- One Health, many approaches: integrated vector management strategies support One Health goals.Frontiers in insect science · 2025Review
- Assessing the role of community involvement and capacity building in larviciding applications for malaria control in Africa: A scoping review.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2025Review
- The impact of Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (VectobacMalaria journal · 2024Article
- Cost and quality of operational larviciding using drones and smartphone technology.Malaria journal · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOnce a mainstay of malaria elimination operations, larval source management (LSM)-namely, the treatment of mosquito breeding habitats-has been marginalized in Africa in favour of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, the development of new technologies, and mosquitoes' growing resistance to insecticides used in LLINs and IRS raise renewed interest in LSM.
methodsA digitally managed larviciding (DML) operation in three of the seven districts of São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) was launched by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and ZzappMalaria LTD. The operation was guided by the Zzapp system, consisting of a designated GPS-based mobile application and an online dashboard, which facilitates the detection, sampling and treatment of mosquito breeding sites. During the operation, quality assurance (QA) procedures and field management methods were developed and implemented.
results12,788 water bodies were located and treated a total of 128,864 times. The reduction impact on mosquito population and on malaria incidence was 74.90% and 52.5%, respectively. The overall cost per person protected (PPP) was US$ 0.86. The cost varied between areas: US$ 0.44 PPP in the urban area, and US$ 1.41 PPP in the rural area. The main cost drivers were labour, transportation and larvicide material.
conclusionDML can yield highly cost-effective results, especially in urban areas. Digital tools facilitate standardization of operations, implementation of QA procedures and monitoring of fieldworkers' performance. Digitally generated spatial data also have the potential to assist integrated vector management (IVM) operations. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a larger sample is needed to further substantiate findings.
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