Presenter(s): Sarah Wheeler − Biology
Faculty Mentor(s): William Bradshaw, Melissa Graboyes
Poster 17
Research Area: Natural/Physical Science
Malaria is a disease that seems foreign to many; a distant memory. Despite the lack of awareness of the breadth of this disease, the World Health Organization reported 216 million cases of malaria across the world in 2016, 445,000 of which resulted in fatalities. While malaria was eradicated in the US in 1951, it’s present across the globe, with the epicenter of the endemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is a vector-borne disease, meaning an organism transfers the disease to a host.
The vector for malaria is Anopheles gambiae, which infects the host with the parasite Plasmodium. Eradication has been successful through the use of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (DDT) by spraying the interior of homes in the past, but the organic pesticide has been banned in many countries. This research focuses on how eradication occurred in the past, what is used today to fight malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa and methods currently being developed in laboratories. Specifically, a meta-analysis was conducted of studies concerning the effects of DDT on the environment and human health, mechanisms of A. gambiae mutations that lead to DDT resistance, alternative methods of fighting malaria and their success rate, as well as cultural and financial barriers that prevent eradication. Comparison of these studies suggests that a rotation of pesticides, including DDT in IRS is effective when paired with pesticide-treated nets.