New survey confirms need for more menopause education in residency programs

Lack of standardized menopause curriculum and access to menopause-specific educational materials leaves many healthcare professionals ill-equipped to manage needs of record numbers of menopausal women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

THE MENOPAUSE SOCIETY

CLEVELAND, Ohio (August 9, 2023)—Despite the fact that nearly 90 million women in the United States are projected to be postmenopausal by 2060, menopause remains low on the priority list of many residency programs. A new survey reveals the lack of a standardized menopause curriculum and limited access to menopause educational resources for residents. Results of the survey are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The Menopause Society.  

Because women today are living longer, it is not surprising that there are a record number of postmenopausal women. And, that number is only expected to grow, with women spending roughly onethird of their lifetimes in menopause. Despite the increased demand for menopause care and education, many obstetrics and gynecology trainees graduate from their residency programs with gaps in their education regarding the management of menopause symptoms and related conditions.  

When the last needs assessment was published for menopause education in 2013, it confirmed that most residents felt that they had limited knowledge and needed to learn more about the various areas of menopause medicine, including hormone therapy and bone health and related conditions such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. At the time, only 20.8% of residents stated that their program had a formal menopause curriculum. Based on the results of this newest survey, it appears that the situation has not improved much, with only 31.3% of the obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors who responded reporting they had any type of menopause curriculum as part of their residents’ training. Nearly 20% claimed they had a curriculum confined to a rotation block.  

Of the programs with a menopause curriculum, 96.8% used lectures and 77.4% used assigned readings. All programs with a menopause curriculum included five or fewer menopause lectures per year for trainees, with 71.0% reporting two or fewer lectures per year. Of the respondents, 83.8% agreed or strongly agreed that their program needs more menopause educational resources.  

Based on the results, researchers concluded that, nationally, most obstetrics and gynecology training programs lack the curriculum necessary to effectively prepare residents to manage menopausal women. Moreover, there is a lack of consistency in the menopause curriculums that do exist such that there is no true level of standardized care.  

Survey results are published in the article “Needs assessment of menopause education in United States obstetrics and gynecology residency training programs.”

“This study highlights the ongoing problem of the lack of education of medical trainees in menopause management. An easily accessible, standardized menopause curriculum would benefit trainees across  multiple residency training programs, including obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, and family medicine, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all women have access to competent menopause care,” says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director for The Menopause Society.  

For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.  

The Menopause Society (formerly The North American Menopause Society) is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org. 

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JOURNAL

Menopause

DOI

10.1097/GME.0000000000002234 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Needs assessment of menopause education in United States obstetrics and gynecology residency training programs

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

9-Aug-2023

The voices of indigenous peoples and local communities as an important part of the climate fight

Coinciding with the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, an ICTA-UAB study calls for indigenous peoples' in-depth knowledge of climate change to be considered.

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA

 

IMAGE: OCTOPUS HUNTER IN WASINI ISLAND, KENYA SWAHILI PEOPLE IN KENYA_ view more 

CREDIT: AUTHOR MOUNA CHAMBON

Coinciding with the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, an ICTA-UAB study calls for indigenous peoples' in-depth knowledge of climate change to be considered.

Indigenous Peoples and local communities around the world have a rich and extensive general knowledge of climate change impacts and possible ways to adapt. This knowledge should be recognised by both science and climate policy.

This is the main conclusion of an international study led by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) which has spent five years analysing and providing detailed data on how Indigenous Peoples and local communities perceive and respond to the impacts of climate change in their territories. 

Led by Victoria Reyes-García, ICREA researcher at ICTA-UAB, the Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts (LICCI) project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), has analysed 52 case studies in indigenous and local communities around the world. The project has benefited from the invaluable collaboration of a network of researchers.

The findings show that Indigenous Peoples and local communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, as they often live in climate hotspots and depend on nature-based livelihoods. Societies often marginalised due to historical and ongoing inequalities, climate change is only one among several challenges they face within a wider context of environmental degradation.

The results show that these communities have a rich and nuanced knowledge of climate change impact adaptation methods. "Connected with their natural environment across generations, they have a holistic understanding of the cascading effects of climate change impacts, from changes in atmospheric, physical and biological systems to impacts on their livelihoods," explains Victoria Reyes-García. 

The case studies cover a range of topics, such as how weather instability makes farming increasingly difficult in Peru or Mexico and sea-ice hunting extremely risky in the Arctic regions, or how changing tides and temperatures on shallow reefs make it difficult to catch octopi in Wasini Island in Kenya. The research covers communities ranging from Koryak reindeer herders in Siberia, Russia, to those in northern Kenya or Puna Seca in Argentina, fishermen on the Juruá River in Brazil, Inuit in Nunavut, Canada, Quechua farmers in Peru, Mapuche-Pehuenche in southern Chile, and indigenous people in Fiji.

Results stress that the adaptive responses of indigenous peoples and local communities to the impacts of climate change are varied and can inspire effective adaptation pathways for other vulnerable communities. Yet, despite their valuable expertise, their knowledge is not taken into account enough in climate change reporting and policies, even in regions where data is scarce due to their difficult access or when the adaptation measures are applied in their territories.

Therefore, researchers claim that "as legitimate custodians of knowledge regarding climate change and its impacts on the local environment, Indigenous Peoples and local communities should have a more central role in the scientific and political processes of understanding and adapting to climate change” and call for institutions involved in assessing impacts and designing adaptation policies and plans at local, national, and international levels to incorporate them into decision-making. 

They also call for special attention to be paid to the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including respect for their sovereignty as well as to the rights of other nature-dependent communities, ensuring that they genuinely participate in assessment, decision-making and redress mechanisms.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

Octopus hunter in Wasini island, Kenya

CREDIT

Author: Mouna Chambon

In Namoly valley, Madagascar, extreme weather, pests and diseases threaten traditional food systems for the Betsileo people.

As well as farming, Betsileo rely on gathering, fishing, hunting, exchange and trade of goods. Most of these are dependent on nature. During the lean season in particular, the forest is a vital resource for wild edible plants.

CREDIT

Vincent Porcher

Ancestral herding community in the East Ujimqin

Every year, at the beginning of summer, our herders come together to offer milk and cheese to the Ovoo spirit, circlingclockwise to pray for the health of the community and nature. This annual custom brings nomadic families together. This ensures knowledge and values are collectively shared and preserved.

CREDIT

Author: Ouerle Chao

ICTA-UAB researcher Anna Porcuna during her fieldwork in Senegal

CREDIT

ICTA-UAB

 

New Antarctic extremes ‘virtually certain’ as world warms

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

 

IMAGE: PENGUINS AND A SEAL ON THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA view more 

CREDIT: PROF ANNA E. HOGG, UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS

Extreme events in Antarctica such as ocean heatwaves and ice loss will almost certainly become more common and more severe, researchers say.

With drastic action now needed to limit global warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C, the scientists warn that recent extremes in Antarctica may be the tip of the iceberg. 

The study reviews evidence of extreme events in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, including weather, sea ice, ocean temperatures, glacier and ice shelf systems, and biodiversity on land and sea.

It concludes that Antarctica’s fragile environments “may well be subject to considerable stress and damage in future years and decades” – and calls for urgent policy action to protect it.

“Antarctic change has global implications,” said lead author Professor Martin Siegert, from the University of Exeter.
“Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero is our best hope of preserving Antarctica, and this must matter to every country – and individual – on the planet.”

Professor Siegert said the rapid changes now happening in Antarctica could place many countries in breach of an international treaty.

“Signatories to the Antarctic Treaty (including the UK, USA, India and China) pledge to preserve the environment of this remote and fragile place,” he said.

“Nations must understand that by continuing to explore, extract and burn fossil fuels anywhere in the world, the environment of Antarctica will become ever more affected in ways inconsistent with their pledge.”

The researchers considered the vulnerability of Antarctica to a range of extreme events, to understand the causes and likely future changes – following a series of recent extremes. 

For example, the world’s largest recorded heatwave (38.5°C above the mean) occurred in East Antarctica in 2022 and, at present, winter sea ice formation is the lowest on record. 

Extreme events can also affect biodiversity. For example, high temperatures have been linked to years with lower krill numbers, leading to breeding failures of krill-reliant predators – evidenced by many dead fur seal pups on beaches.

Co-author Professor Anna Hogg, from the University of Leeds, said: “Our results show that while extreme events are known to impact the globe through heavy rainfall and flooding, heatwaves and wildfires, such as those seen in Europe this summer, they also impact the remote polar regions.

“Antarctic glaciers, sea ice and natural ecosystems are all impacted by extreme events. Therefore, it is essential that international treaties and policy are implemented in order to protect these beautiful but delicate regions.”

Dr Caroline Holmes, a sea ice expert at British Antarctic Survey, said: "Antarctic sea ice has been grabbing headlines in recent weeks, and this paper shows how sea ice records – first record highs but, since 2017, record lows – have been tumbling in Antarctica for several years. 

“On top of that, there are deep interconnections between extreme events in different aspects of the Antarctic physical and biological system, almost all of them vulnerable to human influence in some way."

The retreat of Antarctic sea ice will make new areas accessible by ships, and the researchers say careful management will be required to protect vulnerable sites.

The European Space Agency and European Commission Copernicus Sentinel satellites are an essential tool for regular monitoring of the whole Antarctic region and Southern Ocean. 

This data can be used to measure ice speed, sea ice thickness and ice loss at exceptionally fine resolution. 

The paper, published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, is entitled, Antarctic Extreme Events.
 

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Environmental Science

DOI

10.3389/fenvs.2023.1229283 

ARTICLE TITLE

Antarctic Extreme Events

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Aug-2023

Huge tipping events dominated the evolution of the climate system

For the last 66 million years, the climate system was dominated by two significant climate events, dividing the period into two distinct climate eras

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN - FACULTY OF SCIENCE

 

IMAGE: TWO MAJOR CLIMATE EVENTS DOMINATED THE LAST 66 MILLION YEARS OF CLIMATE CHANGE. view more 

CREDIT: TIPES/HP

 

An analysis of the hierarchy of tipping points suggests that during the last 66 million years two events set the scene for further climate tipping and for the evolution of the climate system in particular. If the anthropogenic climate change of today leads to complete deglaciation, the evolution of Earth's climate will be influenced on a geological time scale, the authors suggest. The work by Denis-Didier Rousseau, Université Montpellier, France, Witold Bagniewski, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France, and Valerio Lucarini, University of Reading, UK is published in Scientific Reports and is part of the European TiPES project on tipping points in the Earth System.

 

Inspired by a theory of evolution

 

The new insight into the history of climate change was inspired by the theory of punctuated equilibrium which ranks evolutionary changes into hierarchies.

 

The idea was introduced in the 70'ies by Eldredge and Gould as an alternative to classic evolution theory. Punctuated equilibrium proposes that some evolutionary changes determine the evolution of a species more than others. And it explains why species have a tendency to adapt in short evolutionary spurts, rather than gradually over time.

 

Rousseau et al. speculated that a similar approach of ranking the importance of historical climate changes through tipping events might prove equally beneficial. For that, they applied advanced statistical methods to two series of climate data with clear signs of critical transitions.

 

The results indeed suggest that the idea of hierarchies in the evolution of the climate system can lead to new insights. The analysis reveals that two major events out of the ten dominated the evolution of the Earth's climate system over the last 66 million years.

 

A hierarchy of climate tipping events

 

The first event was the Chicxulub meteor impact in Mexico which killed off the large dinosaurs approximately 65,5 million years ago. This catastrophe marked the beginning of a very warm period with high levels of CO2. For the following 30 million years this regime dictated which climatic changes were possible and kept it within the regime of hot and warm climates.

 

The second crucial event was the tipping point associated with the glaciation of the Southern hemisphere 34 million years ago when the Antarctic continent was isolated at the South Pole due to plate tectonics. The forming of the large ice sheet led to the glaciation of the North as well and marked the beginning of a considerably colder type of climate on Earth, again dictating the scope of future climate changes.

 

The analysis additionally suggests that our current global climate system still belongs to the latter climate regime and still depends on the existence of the gigantic ice bodies built within the Coolhouse/Icehouse era.

 

Serious repercussions

 

In the event that the ice sheets should not withstand anthropogenic global warming, the deglaciation will therefore represent a landmark tipping point similar to the two that have dominated Earth's history leading to a new unknown climate landscape.

 

”The ice sheets are key components in the present climate system. But they are very sensitive. They presently experience a negative mass balance, and there are numerous reports of evidence of melting under the impact of the current climate warming, translating a trend towards a potential tipping point that could accelerate the disappearance at least of Greenland and West Antarctica, with serious repercussions for our societies” says Denis-Didier Rousseau.

 

“Crossing tipping points has been a recurrent feature in climate evolution. Our study reveals a better understanding now of the mathematics of such events. As a consequence, strategies of adaptation to and mitigation of climate change should now take into account the possible destabilization of tipping elements,” adds Valerio Lucarini.

 

The TiPES project is an EU Horizon 2020 interdisciplinary climate science project on tipping points in the Earth system. 18 partner institutions work together in more than 10 countries. TiPES is coordinated and led by The Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany. The TiPES project has received funding from the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, grant agreement number 820970.

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DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-38454-6 

ARTICLE TITLE

A punctuated equilibrium analysis of the climate evolution of cenozoic exhibits a hierarchy of abrupt transitions

Carbon dioxide – not water – triggers explosive basaltic volcanoes

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

ITHACA, N.Y. – Geoscientists have long thought that water – along with shallow magma stored in Earth’s crust – drives volcanoes to erupt. Now, thanks to newly developed research tools at Cornell, scientists have learned that gaseous carbon dioxide can trigger explosive eruptions.

A new model suggests that basaltic volcanoes, typically located on the interior of tectonic plates, are fed by a deep magma within the mantle, stored about 20 to 30 kilometers below Earth’s surface.

The research, which offers a clearer picture of our planet’s deep internal dynamics and composition, with implications for improving volcanic-hazards planning, published August 7, 2023 at 3:00pm ET in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We used to think all the action happened in the crust,” said senior author Esteban Gazel, the Charles N. Mellowes Professor in Engineering in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in Cornell Engineering. “Our data implies the magma comes directly from the mantle – passing fast through the crust ­– driven by the exsolution (the process phase of separating gas from liquid) of carbon dioxide.

“This completely changes the paradigm of how these eruptions happen,” Gazel said. “All volcanic models had been dominated by water as the main eruption driver, but water has little to do with these volcanoes. It’s carbon dioxide that brings this magma from the deep Earth.”

About four years ago, Gazel and Charlotte DeVitre, Ph.D. ’22, now a postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Berkeley, developed a high-precision carbon dioxide densimeter (which measures density in a tiny vessel) for Raman spectroscopy (a device that examines scattered photons through a microscope).

The natural samples – microscopic-sized carbon dioxide rich bubbles trapped in crystals emanating from the volcanic eruption – are then measured via Raman and quantified applying the newly developed densimeter. Essentially, the scientists are examining a microscopic time capsule to provide a history of the magma. This new technique is critical for near real-time precise estimations of magma storage, tested during the 2021 eruption in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands by Gazel’s group.

Further, the scientists developed methods to assess the effect of laser heating on carbon-dioxide rich inclusions (found swathed in the crystals), and to accurately assess melt inclusion and bubble volumes. They also developed an experimental reheating method to increase accuracy and properly account for carbon dioxide trapped as carbonate crystals inside the bubbles.

“The method of development and instrument design were challenging, especially during the height of the pandemic,” Gazel said.

Using these new tools, the scientists scrutinized volcanic deposits from the Fogo volcano in Cabo Verde, west of Senegal in the Atlantic Ocean. They found a high concentration of volatiles in the micro-sized melt inclusions encased within the magnesium-iron silicate crystals. The higher amount of carbon dioxide enclosed in the crystals suggested that the magma was stored tens of kilometers below the surface – within the Earth’s mantle.

The group also discovered that this process is connected to the deep mantle source that supply these volcanoes.

This implies that eruptions such as Fogo’s volcanic flareups start and are fed from the mantle, effectively bypassing storage in the Earth’s crust and driven by deep carbon dioxide, according to the paper.

“These magmas have extremely low viscosities and come directly from the mantle,” DeVitre said. “So here, viscosity and water cannot play the common roles that they do in shallower and/or more silicic (rich in silica) volcanic systems. Rather at Fogo volcano the magma must be driven up fast by the carbon dioxide and this likely plays a significant role in its explosive behavior. This is a major step in our understanding of the controls on basaltic explosivity.”

Comprehending magma storage helps best prepare society for future eruptions, said Gazel, who is also a faculty fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

“As deep magma storage will not be detected by ground deformation until the melt is close to surface,” he said, “this has important repercussions to our understanding of volcanic hazards. We need to understand the drivers of these eruptions. The only way to see these processes now is by observing earthquakes, but earthquakes don’t tell you exactly what’s happening.”

Said Gazel: “With precise measurements that tell us where eruptions start, where magmas melt and where they are stored – and what triggers the eruption – we can develop a much better plan for future eruptions.”

In addition to Gazel and DeVitre, the other authors of “Oceanic Intraplate Explosive Eruptions Fed Directly from the Mantle” are Ricardo S. Ramalho, Cardiff University, Wales, U.K.; Swetha Venugopal, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston; Matthew Steele-MacInnis, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta; Junlin Hua, University of Texas, Austin; Chelsea M. Allison, Baylor University, Waco, Texas; Lowell R. Moore, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia; Juan Carlos Carracedo, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain; and Brian Monteleone, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts.

Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation. Data was also collected in the Biotechnology Resource Center at Cornell University; and by the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology's Imaging Facility, which is funded through National Institutes of Health.

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

ARTICLE TITLE

Oceanic intraplate explosive eruptions fed directly from the mantle

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Aug-2023

 

Study: Vaccination campaign in Cambodia protects endangered wild cattle from highly contagious potentially fatal skin disease

Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects domestic cattle and buffalo but can infect wild ruminants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: A DEAD BANTENG WITH LUMPY SKIN DISEASE. THE ANIMAL WAS ALSO BADLY INJURED IN A SNARE. view more 

CREDIT: WCS CAMBODIA

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries of the Royal Government of Cambodia have documented the first case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in wildlife in Cambodia.

The case involved a banteng (Bos javanicus), an endangered wild cattle species, that was discovered by community patrol members from Our Future Organization while on patrol in Phnom Tnout – Phnom Pork Wildlife Sanctuary in September 2021. 

It is suspected that the banteng contracted the virus from infected livestock grazing nearby as the virus had already been detected in domestic cattle in the country at that time. To protect free-ranging wild bovids from LSD, a vaccination campaign was launched for domestic cattle ranging within a 20 km radius of protected areas in Mondulkiri and Preah Vihear provinces. WCS and partners published the effort this month in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 

LSD is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects domestic cattle and buffalo but can infect wild ruminants. The virus is transmitted through biting insects and contact with infected animals or their bodily fluids. The disease is characterized by the appearance of raised, fluid-filled bumps on the skin, fever, and other symptoms. In severe cases, LSD can be fatal. It does not infect humans. 

Through this collaborative effort between veterinarians, wildlife experts, NGOs, and government officials a total of 20,089 domestic cattle and water buffalo have been vaccinated to date around banteng habitat in Cambodia. 

“This vaccination campaign serves as an example of protecting both livestock and wildlife health in parallel. Cambodia is conserving wild bovids by taking practical, preventative steps in improving livestock health,” said Mr. Daro Sok, the chief of investigation, Surveillance and Control of Animal Disease for the General Directorate of Animal Health and Production.

“This joint effort to provide this providing vaccination to cattle is verymay have played a crucial roleto  in preventing a larger scale disease outbreak fromin both domestic andto wild cattle, and helped protect community livelihoods and especially to halt public health risks. We thank the Royal Government of Cambodia and our partners for their support in this important effort”, said Mr. Seng Teak, Country Director of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) Cambodia. Since the launch of the campaign, no further cases of LSD have been reported in wild banteng or in gaur (Bos gaurus), another susceptible wild cattle species. 

Although LSD is a serious threat to livestock and livelihoods around the world, data are scarce on the impact on and susceptibility of wild ruminant populations. LSD is one of several diseases emerging as a direct consequence of livestock and agricultural encroachment into wildlife habitat. Targeting prevention measures towards domestic animal hosts, as was carried out around Cambodia’s protected areas, is an example of One Health in action to protect biodiversity. 

The banteng was first detected and reported through Cambodia’s wildlife health surveillance network as part of the WildHealthNet initiative funded by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The vaccination campaign in Cambodia was sponsored by WCS’s REDD+ initiative, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, and WWF, and implemented by WCS and government partners together. WCS is working on the frontlines to reduce risk of pathogen spillover, such as African swine fever and highly pathogenic avian influenza, at livestock-wildlife interfaces across the Mekong region. Wildlife health surveillance remains ongoing in Cambodia to ensure early detection and reporting of wildlife health events across the country. 

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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

WCS combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City and a Global Conservation Program in more than 50 countries to achieve its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS runs the world’s largest conservation field program, protecting more than 50 percent of Earth’s known biodiversity; in partnership with governments, Indigenous People, Local Communities, and the private sector. It’s four zoos and aquarium (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium ) welcomes more than 3.5 million visitors each year, inspiring generations to care for nature. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society, the organization is led (as of June 1, 2023) by President and CEO Monica P. Medina. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org. Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: +1 (347) 840-1242. Listen to the WCS Wild Audio podcast HERE.

 

 

 

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Veterinary Science

DOI

10.3389/fvets.2023.1228505 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Case report: Lumpy skin disease in an endangered wild banteng (Bos javanicus) and initiation of a vaccination campaign in domestic livestock in Cambodia

“Superarthropods”: New publication unravels the impact of the widespread use of insecticides for malaria control

Insights from a recent personal view by Assistant Professor Krijn Paaijmans and colleagues shed light on the potential risks of insecticide resistance in several arthropods due to malaria vector control.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: COURTESY OF KRIJN PAAIJMANS. AN EMPLOYEE OF THE NATIONAL MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAM IN MOZAMBIQUE SPRAYING INSECTICIDES ON WALLS INSIDE A HOME. view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF KRIJN PAAIJMANS

Several diseases are caused by viruses, bacteria, or even parasites. Sometimes, these microorganisms cannot infect humans (or other animals) by themselves, so they rely on other organisms -called vectors- to carry them around and transmit the disease from one host to another. A well-known group of vectors is arthropods. Arthropods have a hard exoskeleton, segmented bodies, and jointed legs. They are incredibly diverse and can be found in various habitats worldwide. They include disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes, sand flies, kissing bugs, and ticks.

Mosquitoes spread diseases like malaria, dengue, Zika, and yellow fever. Over the last century, people have developed various ways to reduce mosquito numbers to avoid spreading life-threatening diseases, mainly malaria. The most common approach is using insecticides added to bednets or sprayed indoors. Although these tools target mosquitoes, they often affect other types of arthropods that might come in contact with them. 

Graduate student Ndey Bassin Jobe, Assistant Professor Silvie Huijben, and Assistant Professor Krijn Paaijmans from the School of Life Sciences and the Center for Evolution and Medicine recently published a personal view in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. In their publication, they discuss how insecticides used in malaria control not only affect malaria-carrying mosquitoes but can also lead to insecticide resistance in other arthropods, several of which transmit overlooked and dangerous tropical diseases.

How these arthropods behave, like when and where they feed and rest, affects how much they are exposed to insecticides used for malaria control. Jobe and colleagues argue that there is an urgent need to monitor the behavior and insecticide susceptibility status of those other arthropods.

When other arthropods are repeatedly exposed to the same insecticides, they might become resistant to the chemicals meant to kill or control malaria mosquitoes. 
“Understanding the extent to which other disease vectors are exposed to insecticides used now is critical because if they already develop resistance, it will be difficult to prevent and control future emerging and re-emerging diseases,” Ndey Bassin explains. 

Unfortunately, many other arthropod species are already resistant to insecticides used in malaria vector control. Scientists still don’t know much about when, where, and how often they come into contact with malaria control tools. Understanding how these organisms become resistant is crucial to ensure insecticides can effectively control and prevent various diseases now and in the future. 

“Effectively combating vector-borne diseases depends very often on the control of arthropod vectors as for many diseases, including West Nile virus, Zika, chikungunya, Saint Louis encephalitis and Ross River virus, we do not have vaccines or drugs,” Professor Paaijmans said. 

The authors emphasize an urgent need for a comprehensive approach to managing disease-carrying organisms. Understanding behavioral patterns and the overall characteristics of other organisms that can spread disease is critical to preventing and controlling future health threats. 

“We have to improve our understanding of the distribution, ecology, behavior and insecticide susceptibility status of all other relevant arthropod species, to ensure we develop the most future-proof and holistic vector control strategies and protect future generations,” Professor Huijben concluded.  
 

Courtesy of Krijn Paaijmans. A typical home in southern Mozambique.

  

Courtesy of Krijn Paaijmans. A malaria mosquito resting on an insecticide-treated wall.

JOURNAL

The Lancet Planetary Health

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Non-target effects of chemical malaria vector control on other biological and mechanical infectious disease vectors

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Aug-2023