Late morning biting behaviour of Anopheles funestus is a risk factor for transmission in schools in Siaya, western Kenya

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Abstract Background: Children in Kenya spend a substantial amount of time at school, including at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are active. If schools do not have adequate malaria transmission prevention, they can become hotspots for infection. With changing vector behaviour towards early morning biting, it is important to determine whether there is an additional risk of transmission in schools. This study sought to understand whether late morning biting by Anopheles funestus previously documented in households in western Kenya was replicated in schools. Methods: From the 4th to the 6th of August 2023, human landing collections were conducted hourly in four schools in Alego Usonga sub-County, Siaya County. The collections were conducted in and outside of five classrooms in each school and ran for 16 hours, starting at 18:00 until 11:00 hours the next morning. Results: Anopheles funestus was the predominant species collected forming 93·2% (N=727) of the entire collection with peak landing between 06:00 and 07:00 hours and continuing until 1100 hours. More than half of the collected An. funestus were either fed or gravid, potentially indicative of multiple bloodmeals within each gonotrophic cycle, and had a sporozoite rate of 2·05%. Discussion School children spend upto 10 hours of their daytime in schools reporting between 06:00 and 07:00 hrs and staying in school until as late as 17:00 hrs meaning that they receive potentially infectious mosquito bites during the morning hours. Conclusion: There is a need to consider vector control approaches targeting schools and other peridomestic spaces in the morning hours when An. funestus is active.

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