Malaria infection and human behavioral factors: A stochastic model analysis for direct observation data in the Solomon Islands.

The effect of human behavior on malaria infection was investigated in a holoendemic area in the Solomon Islands, using a newly developed mathematical model based on the results of blood examinations and 2 weeks of direct observations. The present study indicated that the place where individuals spent the evening had no significant relation to malaria infection, but that some kinds of clothes significantly reduced malaria infection. However, as the result of prediction by the Susceptible-Exposed-Infective-Recovered (SEIR) model, effective control of malaria transmission would require as much as 95% coverage by protection even in the case that the protective measure was highly effective. The results strongly suggested protection measures besides bed net distribution in addition to the necessity of health education. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:781-789, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.