Abstract
Background: In rural Burkina Faso, the malaria vector An. gambiae s.l. is primarily thought to feed indoors at night. Identification of factors which influence mosquito house entry could lead to development of novel malaria vector control interventions. A study was therefore carried out to identify risk factors associated with house entry of An. gambiae s.l. in south-west Burkina Faso, an area of high insecticide resistance. Methods: Mosquitoes were sampled monthly during the malaria transmission season using CDC light traps in 252 houses from 10 villages, each house sleeping at least one child aged five to 15 years old. Putative risk factors for house entry of An. gambiae s.l. were measured, including socio-economic status, caregiver’s education and occupation, number of people sleeping in the same room as the child, use of anti-mosquito measures, house construction and fittings, proximity of mosquito aquatic habitats and presence of animals near the house. Mosquito counts were compared using a generalised linear mixed-effect model with negative binomial and log link function, adjusting for repeated collections. Results: 20,929 mosquitoes were caught, of which 16,270 (77.7%) were An. gambiae s.l. Of the 6,691 An. gambiae s.l. identified to species, 4,101 (61.3%) were An. gambiae and 2,590 (38.7%) An. coluzzii. Having an electricity supply (incidence rate ratio, IRR = 0.4, 95% CI = 0.3–0.7, p = 0.001) and a metal-roofed house (IRR, = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4–1.0, p = 0.034) were associated with fewer malaria vectors inside the home. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that there were fewer An. gambiae s.l. in homes with electricity and a metal roof compared to those that did not. Brightly-lit, well-built houses with metal roofs may reduce entry of malaria mosquitoes compared to dimly-lit, poorly-built thatched roofed houses.