Local-scale variation in malaria infection amongst rural Gambian children estimated by satellite remote sensing

We investigated local-scale variation in malaria transmission and infection in children within a continuous landscape by retrospective spatial analysi s of entomological and clinical data collected during 1988 and 1989 in The Gambia, West Africa. Parasite prevalence was negatively correlated with vec tor abundance and exposure to malaria parasites in 10 tillages where entomo logical surveillance had been carried out. Variation in bednet use did not explain this finding. Mosquito-breeding habitat was retrospectively mapped using 20-m spatial resolution multispectral SPOT satellite imagery from 198 8. From these data we estimated by linear regression the risk of exposure t o malaria parasites in 26 villages where clinical surveys of children had b een made. As exposure increased, so did parasite prevalence; but at higher levels of exposure, parasite prevalence declined. Our findings demonstrate marked differences in exposure to malaria in villages over distances of les s than 2 km from mosquito breeding sites and suggest that there are also la rge differences in immunity between neighbouring settlements.