Effects of larval habitat density and ITN/LLIN use on the spatial distribution of malaria vectors

The spatial distribution of malaria prevalence is often heterogeneous across a landscape, differing among households within a community. This is especially true in areas where community-wide malaria interventions are implemented and reduce malaria prevalence in most households. Understanding the spatial heterogeneity of malaria prevalence is especially important in this context of public health interventions in order to identify the factors that limit an intervention’s effectiveness. In the case of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) and long lasting impregnated nets (LLINs), it is vital to understand the factors that influence the spatial distribution of the vectors. Using data from indoor resting mosquito collections and larval habitat surveys, we quantified the relative contributions of larval habitat spatial distribution and ITN/LLIN use on the spatial distributions of the malaria vector populations in a holoendemic region of western Kenya. We sampled 526 houses and collected 227 An. gambiae s.l. and 125 An. funestus females. Ownership and use of LLINs was high, but at least one person did not sleep under a bed net in 21% of the houses sampled. Larval Anopheles habitats were more likely to be found in areas of agricultural land use, closer to streams, and where topography favored the pooling of runoff water. Houses where at least one person did not sleep under an LLIN had more Anopheles females than houses where everyone slept under a bed net. Additionally, the number of An. gambiae s.l. females increased with the number of larval habitats within 50m of a house. While ITNs and LLINs have been shown to be effective at reducing malaria vector populations across broad scales, our results highlight fine scale factors influencing where vectors persist.