Safe and effective use of household insecticide products : guide for the production of educational and training materials

Overview

Insects are a major cause of disease and discomfort world wide. Insect-borne diseases, such as malaria, can impede the economic and social development of nations. This is particularly so in the warm and humid regions of the tropics and sub-tropics where insects pose a great risk of human disease to many people by spreading viruses, worms and protozoa such as:

• Malaria -with more than 300 million cases per year and several million deaths, transmitted by mosquitoes Anopheles spp.
• Filariasis -with about 120 million infected, leaving severely disabled persons, transmitted by mosquitoes Culex spp.
• Yellow fever, dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever -with millions of cases and up to 5% of deaths, transmitted by mosquitoes Aedes spp.
• Japanese encephalitis -transmitted by mosquito Culex spp.
• Leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis, -transmitted by -transmitted by sandflies, flies, ticks.
• Chagas disease -in Central and South America, transmitted by triatomine bugs.
• Plague -transmitted by fleas.

Moreover, many bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases, e.g., cholera, dysentery, typhoid, leprosy, poliomyelitis, infectious hepatitis, diarrhoea, helminthic infections, and so called hospital syndrome are believed to be transmitted mechanically by flies, cockroaches and other pests.

Apart from the risks of being bitten by insects, allergies linked to cockroach and house dust mite infestations have been found to be a major health hazard, especially in urban and suburban communities of temperate regions where central heating contributes to pest population pressure and allergen loading.