martes 10 de abril de 2012
Mapa Global de Vectores predominantes de Malaria
Parasites & Vectors 2012, 5:69 (Free)
Global malaria vector maps, by necessity, must simplify a complex diversity of numerous interacting and sympatric anopheline species. Such simplification refines the information down to a minimum, indicating only the primary vector(s) at each location and provides users, such as public health officials, modellers and opinion formers, with a global and regional picture that is easy to digest and utilise for scientific, operational and advocacy
purposes.
Global maps have long been used to aid in visualising the malaria problem. These include the vector species map of May [1] and the 12 zones of malaria epidemiology described by Macdonald [2], determined using broad climatic ranges and physical land features, as well as consideration of the known distribution of the major anopheline vectors at the time. More recently Mouch et al. [3] updated Macdonald’s map, reassigning the 12 zones into more conventional biogeographical regions. This history of malaria vector (or vector-associated) visualisation indicates a past appetite for such maps, continuing more recently with Kiszewski et al.[4] publishing a global distribution map for the major malaria vectors in 2004. Their map was created to aid the authors in the development of a malaria transmission ‘stability’ map, but has since been adopted widely within the malaria research community and reproduced in many publications (their paper is listed as being cited 81 times in Web of Science and 37 times in PubMED). There is, therefore, a substantial and continuing demand for global maps of the major vectors of malaria.
