Study of house-level risk factors associated in the transmission of Indian Kala-azar

BACKGROUND: In visceral leishmaniasis (VL), phlebotomine vectors are the main target to reduce for control measures. An attempt has been taken to delineate the association between Phlebotomous argentipes and housing characteristics between two districts e.g. endemic and non-endemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 240 households for both the endemic (Vaishali district) and non-endemic (Lohardaga district) site. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors related to housing characteristics influencing suitable habitats for P. argentipes. Vector density estimated using a CDC light trap. RESULTS: The proportion of P. argentipes in both endemic and non-endemic areas was significantly much higher (P < 0.001) when compared with the proportion of Sergentomiya and P. papatasi. The results of multilevel logistic regression analysis showed that mud plastered wall (P value = 0.001), mixed dwelling (P value = 0.002) and area (P value = 0.001) were strongly associated with the presence of vectors. CONCLUSION: Result of the studied household characteristics provides an accurate, rapid assessment of house-level variation in risk. The results also have implications for maximizing surveillance efficacy of sandflies, which is likely to become increasingly important while formulating any control strategy.