An Introduction to the Prevention and Control of Vector-Transmitted Diseases

(en.nhfpc.gov.cn)

Updated: 2014-07-15

Third, the total number of people living in towns and cities and the urban population density have been increasing year by year. In some areas, the supporting health conditions cannot keep pace with the demand, which means a favorable condition for the multiplication of vector species, the transmission of diseases and higher risk of spreading infectious diseases.

Fourth, the overuse of pesticides is a factor. With the improvement of living standards of urban and rural residents, the quantity of pesticides used for sanitary purposes has been increasing year by year. However, the use of such pesticides is not scientific and systematic enough. As a result, vector species are likely to become more and more drug resistant. Nowadays, it has become more difficult and costly to get these vector species under control. Some vector species that have been kept under control, such as bedbugs, have reappeared and become a threat to people’s health.

As far as vector-transmitted diseases in China are concerned, three new trends are evident. First, with the advancement of globalization, China’s opening to the outside world and economic development, foreign exchanges have become increasingly common. As a result, the number of vector-transmitted infectious diseases imported from epidemic areas and countries has been increasing year by year. Particularly, there are a large number of imported cases of such diseases as malaria and dengue fever from endemic Southeast Asia every year. Moreover, some imported cases have resulted in the outbreak of related diseases in certain parts of China, thus posing a serious threat to the lives and health of the Chinese people. For instance, the number of imported cases of malaria in China in 2013 accounts for more than 90 percent of the total number of reported malaria cases.

Second, some traditional vector-transmitted infectious diseases that have been under control are still widespread. For instance, there has been a comeback of epidemic encephalitis B.

Third, new infectious diseases keep emerging, and the situation is serious. In recent years, new pathogens such as anaplasma, ehrlichiae and bartonella and new infectious diseases such as chikungunya and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), have successively been seen in China. Currently, there are no effective means to prevent and cure such new vector-transmitted infectious diseases. It is rather hard to get them under control.