Artificial Lighting as a Vector Attractant and Cause of Disease Diffusion

Abstract

BackgroundTraditionally, epidemiologists have considered electrification to be a positive factor. In fact, electrification and plumbing are typical initiatives that represent the integration of an isolated population into modern society, ensuring the control of pathogens and promoting public health. Nonetheless, electrification is always accompanied by night lighting that attracts insect vectors and changes people’s behavior. Although this may lead to new modes of infection and increased transmission of insect-borne diseases, epidemiologists rarely consider the role of night lighting in their surveys.ObjectiveWe reviewed the epidemiological evidence concerning the role of lighting in the spread of vector-borne diseases to encourage other researchers to consider it in future studies.DiscussionWe present three infectious vector-borne diseases—Chagas, leishmaniasis, and malaria—and discuss evidence that suggests that the use of artificial lighting results in behavioral changes among human populations and changes in the prevalence of vector species and in the modes of transmission.ConclusionDespite a surprising lack of studies, existing evidence supports our hypothesis that artificial lighting leads to a higher risk of infection from vector-borne diseases. We believe that this is related not only to the simple attraction of traditional vectors to light sources but also to changes in the behavior of both humans and insects that result in new modes of disease transmission. Considering the ongoing expansion of night lighting in developing countries, additional research on this subject is urgently needed.

Use of electricity and malaria occurrence: Is there a link? The case of Malawi

“…There are several studies showing that mosquitoes are attracted to light and that malaria vectors are captured using light traps (Barghini and de Medeiros, 2010). This suggests that the Yamamoto et al (2010), who found how households living in Burkina Faso in electrified houses are recorded to have higher occurrence of malaria.…”

“…The changes electrification may bring in someone's life can be multiple, may go in different directions and are very likely to be extremely difficult to disentangle; for what concerns the (Barghini and de Medeiros, 2010). Other changes include social interactions and sport activities, which can now take place outside the dwelling and in the evening with artificial light and which see as main actors especially men and male children (Winther, 2011).…”

“…There are at least four reasons to believe that the use of electricity may impact the incidence of malaria. First of all, artificial light is a powerful insect attractant and evidence suggests that light traps are used by both entomologists and epidemiologists to capture insects (Barghini and de Medeiros, 2010). Second, electricity -as well as gas-used for cooking purposes replaces biomass thus eliminating the amount of indoor smoke which results in a substantially improved indoor air quality on one side and in an increased density of malaria vectors which, now, are not repelled by the smoke (Dube et al, 2012).…”

The Electrification–Malaria Nexus: The Case of Rural Uganda

“…It has been argued that mosquitoes are attracted to light (Barghini and de Medeiros, 2010;Barret et al, 1973;Barret et al, 1974), and malaria vectors are captured using 1 In contrast, the relation between access to electricity and the occurrence of Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, has been studied. Chagas disease is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector while leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly.…”

“…Chagas disease is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect vector while leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites that belong to the genus Leishmania and is transmitted by the bite of certain species of sand fly. The occurrence of these two types of disease has been proven to increase in electrified areas (Barghini and de Medeiros, 2010). suction light traps with heat or carbon dioxide bait (Jawara et al, 2008;Lee et al, 2009;Suárez-Mutis et al 2009;Tirados at al., 2006).…”