A Urban vector potentiality of Anopheles stephensi in Vijayawada, Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Malaria is the major health problem in coastal Andhra Pradesh, yet its transmission dynamics is not served properly. The present investigations reveal the prevalence of quantitative aspects of Anopheline species in the study area. A longitudinal study was carried out from July 2008 to June 2009 in the urban areas of Vijayawada city to understand the vector potentiality. The study of urban malaria vector potentiality was conducted on 24,216 population consisting of 6,755 households. Overall 15 study areas (3 posh areas, 3 mixed areas, 3 slum areas, 3 low lying areas and 3 hilly areas) were selected for survey. The larval count and the container adult breeding was calculated in terms of container index (CI), house index (HI) and breteau index (BI) and as breeding preference ratio (BPR). Anopheles stephensi showed high larval density and high man hour density (32.68%) in October 2008 (probably due to heavy rains) confirms the presence of favourable malariogenic conditions. A. stephensi is the successful vector in the studied urban area.