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Bukhari T, Gichuhi J, Mbare O, Ochwal VA, Fillinger U, Herren JK. Willingness to accept and participate in a Microsporidia MB-based mosquito release strategy: a community-based rapid assessment in western Kenya. Malar J 2024; 23:113. [PMID: 38643165 PMCID: PMC11031974 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-024-04941-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Microsporidia MB, an endosymbiont naturally found in Anopheles mosquitoes inhibits transmission of Plasmodium and is a promising candidate for a transmission-blocking strategy that may involve mosquito release. A rapid assessment was carried out to develop insight into sociodemographic factors, public health concerns, and malaria awareness, management, and prevention practices with the willingness to accept and participate in Microsporidia MB-based transmission-blocking strategy to develop an informed stakeholder engagement process. METHODS The assessment consisted of a survey conducted in two communities in western Kenya that involved administering a questionnaire consisting of structured, semi-structured, and open questions to 8108 household heads. RESULTS There was an overall high level of willingness to accept (81%) and participate in the implementation of the strategy (96%). Although the willingness to accept was similar in both communities, Ombeyi community was more willing to participate (OR 22, 95% CI 13-36). Women were less willing to accept (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.7-0.9) compared to men due to fear of increased mosquito bites near homes. Household heads with incomplete primary education were more willing to accept (OR 1.6, 95% CI 01.2-2.2) compared to those educated to primary level or higher. Perceiving malaria as a moderate or low public health issue was also associated with a lower willingness to accept and participate. Experience of > 3 malaria cases in the family over the last six months and knowledge that malaria is transmitted by only mosquito bites, increased the willingness to accept but reduced the willingness to participate. Awareness of malaria control methods based on mosquitoes that cannot transmit malaria increases the willingness to participate. CONCLUSION The study showed a high level of willingness to accept and participate in a Microsporidia MB-based strategy in the community, which is influenced by several factors such as community, disease risk perception, gender, education level, knowledge, and experience of malaria. Further research will need to focus on understanding the concerns of women, educated, and employed community members, and factors that contribute to the lower disease risk perception. This improved understanding will lead to the development of an effective communication strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tullu Bukhari
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya.
| | - Joseph Gichuhi
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Oscar Mbare
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Victoria A Ochwal
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Ulrike Fillinger
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jeremy K Herren
- Human Health, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), Nairobi, Kenya
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Finda MF, Juma EO, Kahamba NF, Mthawanji RS, Sambo M, Emidi B, Wiener S, O'Brochta D, Santos M, James S, Okumu FO. Perspectives of African stakeholders on gene drives for malaria control and elimination: a multi-country survey. Malar J 2023; 22:384. [PMID: 38129897 PMCID: PMC10740233 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-023-04787-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gene drive modified mosquitoes (GDMMs) have the potential to address Africa's persistent malaria problem, but are still in early stages of development and testing. Continuous engagement of African stakeholders is crucial for successful evaluation and implementation of these technologies. The aim of this multi-country study was, therefore, to explore the insights and recommendations of key stakeholders across Africa on the potential of GDMMs for malaria control and elimination in the continent. METHODS A concurrent mixed-methods study design was used, involving a structured survey administered to 180 stakeholders in 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 18 in-depth discussions with selected groups and individuals. Stakeholders were drawn from academia, research and regulatory institutions, government ministries of health and environment, media and advocacy groups. Thematic content analysis was used to identify key topics from the in-depth discussions, and descriptive analysis was done to summarize information from the survey data. RESULTS Despite high levels of awareness of GDMMs among the stakeholders (76.7%), there was a relatively low-level of understanding of their key attributes and potential for malaria control (28.3%). When more information about GDMMs was provided to the stakeholders, they readily discussed their insights and concerns, and offered several recommendations to ensure successful research and implementation of the technology. These included: (i) increasing relevant technical expertise within Africa, (ii) generating local evidence on safety, applicability, and effectiveness of GDMMs, and (iii) developing country-specific regulations for safe and effective governance of GDMMs. A majority of the respondents (92.9%) stated that they would support field trials or implementation of GDMMs in their respective countries. This study also identified significant misconceptions regarding the phase of GDMM testing in Africa, as several participants incorrectly asserted that GDMMs were already present in Africa, either within laboratories or released into the field. CONCLUSION Incorporating views and recommendations of African stakeholders in the ongoing research and development of GDMMs is crucial for instilling stakeholder confidence on their potential application. These findings will enable improved planning for GDMMs in Africa as well as improved target product profiles for the technologies to maximize their potential for solving Africa's enduring malaria challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marceline F Finda
- Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute, PO Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania.
| | - Elijah O Juma
- Pan-African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA), Off Mbagathi Road, PO Box 44455-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Najat F Kahamba
- Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute, PO Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Rhosheen S Mthawanji
- Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre 3, PO Box 30096, Chichiri, Malawi
| | - Maganga Sambo
- Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute, PO Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Basiliana Emidi
- National Institute for Medical Research, PO Box 1462, Mwanza, Tanzania
| | - Susan Wiener
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, North Bethesda, MD, 20852, USA
| | - David O'Brochta
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, North Bethesda, MD, 20852, USA
| | - Michael Santos
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, North Bethesda, MD, 20852, USA
| | - Stephanie James
- Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, 11400 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, North Bethesda, MD, 20852, USA
| | - Fredros O Okumu
- Environmental Health and Ecological Sciences, Ifakara Health Institute, PO Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
- School of Life Science and Bioengineering, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G128QQ, UK
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Smuts Avenue, Braamofontein, 2000, South Africa
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Kormos A, Dimopoulos G, Bier E, Lanzaro GC, Marshall JM, James AA. Conceptual risk assessment of mosquito population modification gene-drive systems to control malaria transmission: preliminary hazards list workshops. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2023; 11:1261123. [PMID: 37965050 PMCID: PMC10641379 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2023.1261123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The field-testing and eventual adoption of genetically-engineered mosquitoes (GEMs) to control vector-borne pathogen transmission will require them meeting safety criteria specified by regulatory authorities in regions where the technology is being considered for use and other locales that might be impacted. Preliminary risk considerations by researchers and developers may be useful for planning the baseline data collection and field research used to address the anticipated safety concerns. Part of this process is to identify potential hazards (defined as the inherent ability of an entity to cause harm) and their harms, and then chart the pathways to harm and evaluate their probability as part of a risk assessment. The University of California Malaria Initiative (UCMI) participated in a series of workshops held to identify potential hazards specific to mosquito population modification strains carrying gene-drive systems coupled to anti-parasite effector genes and their use in a hypothetical island field trial. The hazards identified were placed within the broader context of previous efforts discussed in the scientific literature. Five risk areas were considered i) pathogens, infections and diseases, and the impacts of GEMs on human and animal health, ii) invasiveness and persistence of GEMs, and interactions of GEMs with target organisms, iii) interactions of GEMs with non-target organisms including horizontal gene transfer, iv) impacts of techniques used for the management of GEMs and v) evolutionary and stability considerations. A preliminary hazards list (PHL) was developed and is made available here. This PHL is useful for internal project risk evaluation and is available to regulators at prospective field sites. UCMI project scientists affirm that the subsequent processes associated with the comprehensive risk assessment for the application of this technology should be driven by the stakeholders at the proposed field site and areas that could be affected by this intervention strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Kormos
- Vector Genetics Laboratory, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - George Dimopoulos
- W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Ethan Bier
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Gregory C. Lanzaro
- Vector Genetics Laboratory, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - John M. Marshall
- Divisions of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Anthony A. James
- Departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
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Clement JJ. Multiple Levels of Heuristic Reasoning Processes in Scientific Model Construction. Front Psychol 2022; 13:750713. [PMID: 35619778 PMCID: PMC9127582 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.750713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Science historians have recognized the importance of heuristic reasoning strategies for constructing theories, but their extent and degree of organization are still poorly understood. This paper first consolidates a set of important heuristic strategies for constructing scientific models from three books, including studies in the history of genetics and electromagnetism, and an expert think-aloud study in the field of mechanics. The books focus on qualitative reasoning strategies (processes) involved in creative model construction, scientific breakthroughs, and conceptual change. Twenty four processes are examined, most of which are field-general, but all are heuristic in not being guaranteed to work. An organizing framework is then proposed as a four-level hierarchy of nested reasoning processes and subprocesses at different size and time scales, including: Level (L4) Several longer-time-scale Major Modeling Modes, such as Model Evolution and Model Competition; the former mode utilizes: (L3) Modeling Cycle Phases of Model Generation, Evaluation, and Modification under Constraints; which can utilize: (L2) Thirteen Tactical Heuristic Processes, e.g., Analogy, Infer new model feature (e.g., by running the model), etc.; many of which selectively utilize: (L1) Grounded Imagistic Processes, namely Mental Simulations and Structural Transformations. Incomplete serial ordering in the framework gives it an intermediate degree of organization that is neither anarchistic nor fully algorithmic. Its organizational structure is hypothesized to promote a difficult balance between divergent and convergent processes as it alternates between them in modeling cycles with increasingly constrained modifications. Videotaped think-aloud protocols that include depictive gestures and other imagery indicators indicate that the processes in L1 above can be imagistic. From neurological evidence that imagery uses many of the same brain regions as actual perception and action, it is argued that these expert reasoning processes are grounded in the sense of utilizing the perceptual and motor systems, and interconnections to and possible benefits for reasoning processes at higher levels are examined. The discussion examines whether this grounding and the various forms of organization in the framework may begin to explain how processes that are only sometimes useful and not guaranteed to work can combine successfully to achieve innovative scientific model construction.
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Affiliation(s)
- John J. Clement
- Scientific Reasoning Research Institute, College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, United States
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Lefèvre T, Sauvion N, Almeida RP, Fournet F, Alout H. The ecological significance of arthropod vectors of plant, animal, and human pathogens. Trends Parasitol 2022; 38:404-418. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2022.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Finda MF, Okumu FO, Minja E, Njalambaha R, Mponzi W, Tarimo BB, Chaki P, Lezaun J, Kelly AH, Christofdes N. Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control. Malar J 2021; 20:257. [PMID: 34107948 PMCID: PMC8188680 DOI: 10.1186/s12936-021-03777-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marceline F Finda
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania. .,School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Smuts Avenue, Braamofontein, 2000, South Africa.
| | - Fredros O Okumu
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania.,School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Smuts Avenue, Braamofontein, 2000, South Africa.,Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK.,School of Life Science and Bioengineering, Institution of Science and Technology, The Nelson Mandela African, P. O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania
| | - Elihaika Minja
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Rukiyah Njalambaha
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Winfrida Mponzi
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Brian B Tarimo
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Prosper Chaki
- Environmental Health and Ecological Science Department, Ifakara Health Institute, P. O. Box 53, Ifakara, Tanzania
| | - Javier Lezaun
- Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Ann H Kelly
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Nicola Christofdes
- School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Smuts Avenue, Braamofontein, 2000, South Africa
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