Investigating the Relationship between the Presence of Domestic Animals and the Frequency of Mosquito Bites in Residential Houses: A Case Study

Varzaneh, Abdoreza Ahaki; Fadaei, Saeid; Varzaneh, Zahra Bagheri; Dehghani, Rouhullah

doi:10.4103/ijehe.ijehe_9_23

Investigating the Relationship between the Presence of Domestic Animals and the Frequency of Mosquito Bites in Residential Houses: A Case Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abdoreza Ahaki Varzaneh ¹

Saeid Fadaei ²

Zahra Bagheri Varzaneh ³

Rouhullah Dehghani ⁴

¹ Department of Industrial Engineering, Naghshejahan Higher Education Institute, Isfahan, Iran

² Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

³ Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

⁴ Department of Environment Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran

10.4103/ijehe.ijehe_9_23

Abstract

Aim:
Diverting the blood-feeding mosquitoes from humans to domestic animals is an effective strategy known as zoo prophylaxis. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between keeping domestic animals and the frequency of mosquito bites in residential houses.
Methods:
A number of 150 families were involved in this study resided in Varzaneh City, Isfahan province, Iran. Data on the mosquito bites were collected using a checklist. The descriptive statistics and analytical parametric tests such as correlation and analysis of variance were performed using SPSS 22 software.
Results:
Based on the results, 26% of the participants in this study have reported keeping domestic animals. Moreover, 44.7% of the families reported the movement of nondomestic animals inside their houses. Only 7.7% of families who had domestic animals have reported mosquito bites. The statistical analysis showed a significant (P < 0.01) inverse relationship between keeping domestic animals with mosquito bites.
Conclusion:
Our findings showed that domestic animals in residential houses could serve as a biological shield diverting blood-seeking mosquitoes from humans to animals. Therefore, such a simple, environmentally friendly, and efficient strategy could be employed to prevent mosquito-carrying diseases in the study region.

Keywords

Bite

blood‑feeding

domestic animals

mosquito

zoo prophylaxis