Malaria Vector Surveillance in Antipolo City

Abstract

Malaria is caused by a bite of an infected Anopheles female mosquito which transmits the parasite Plasmodium sp. in the blood of the host. In this study, three representative barangays of Antipolo were surveyed for the presence of Anopheles sp. The standard dipping method was utilized to obtain the mosquito larva along the sample sites. Anopheles minimus flavirostris was observed to comprise 64.6% of the Anopheline population while A. filipinae (24.6%) and A. baezai(W.6°/o) were the other species collected. The Anopheles mean breeding index (0.46 larva/dip) was significantly higher for Brgy. Inarawan. Culex sp. and Aedes sp. were also obtained with Culex having the highest monthly mean breeding index (1.94 larva/dip) for the three locations. It was observed that there is no correlation between the Anopheles mean breeding indices and the number of reported cases in Antipolo which may be attributed to the passive surveillance employed by the health center.