Author
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Klun, Jerome |
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DEBBOUN, MUSTAPHA - WALTER REED AIR |
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Submitted to: Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 9/22/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Laboratory bioassays involving application of chemicals to humans and subsequent exposure of them to arthropods can be useful in the discovery of improved repellents against blood-sucking insects, ticks, and mites. The problem was that only inefficient methods and test devices existed for these bioassays. This made screening for new and more effective repellents tedious and time consuming. We designed and constructed a new test module for the bioassays and developed methods for its use that are significantly more efficient than anything previously available. The new test module and bioassay method could serve as a standard for determining effective repellent concentrations on human skin or repellent-treated cloth & would accelerate discovery of new and better repellents against vectors of human diseases such as malaria and Lyme disease. Technical Abstract: A new module for quantitative evaluation of arthropod repellents in human subjects was designed, constructed and tested. Doses of three arthropod repellents were evaluated using the mosquito, Anopheles stephensi Liston. Protocols for use of the module were developed. Biting responses to varied doses of the repellents on human skin were quantified, and the effectiveness of the three repellents was compared. The new module is composed of six test cells and is unlike other devices previously used for laboratory bioassays of arthropod repellents. It permits simultaneous comparison of up to five repellent doses or chemical types using a complete randomized block design with minimal treatment interaction and with six or more replicates per human subject. |
