ABSTRACT
Mosquito repellents play an important role in preventing man-mosquito contact. In the present study, we evaluated the synergistic mosquito-repellent activity of Curcuma longa, Pogostemon heyneonus and Zanthoxylum Iimonella essential oils. The mosquito repellent efficacies of three essential oils were evaluated separately and in combination under laboratory and field conditions. N,N-Diethylphenylacetamide [DEPA] and dimethylphthalate [DMP] were used for comparison of the protection time of the mixture of essential oils. At an optimum concentration of 20%, the essential oils of C. longa, Z. Iimonella and P. heyneanus provided complete protection times [CRTs] of 96.2, 91.4 and 123.4min, respectively, against Aedes albopictus mosquitoes in the laboratory. The 1:1:2 mixture of the essential oils provided 329.4 and 391.0min of CPT in the laboratory and field trials, respectively. The percent increases in CPTs for the essential oil mixture were 30 for DMP and 55 for N,N-diethylphenylacetamide [DEPA]. The synergistic repellent activity of the essential oils used in the present study might be useful for developing safer alternatives to synthetic repellents for personal protection against mosquitoes
ABSTRACT
India reports the highest number of malaria cases in Southeast Asia, of which Plasmodium falciparum contribute more than half of the cases every year. North eastern states of India contribute only 3.96% of country's population but account for >10% of total reported malaria cases, 11% of Plasmodium falciparum cases and 20% of malaria related deaths annually. In India, chloroquine resistance was reported for the first time from northeast region and since then chloroquine treatment failure is being reported from many parts of the region. Increased chloroquine treatment failure has led to change of the drug policy to artemisinin combination therapy as first line of malaria treatment in the region. However, replacing chloroquine to artemisinin combination therapy has not shown significant difference in the overall malaria incidence in the region. The present review addresses the current malaria situation of northeastern region of India in the light of antimalarials drug resistance.