14 – Evolution of Resistance to Insecticide in Disease Vectors

Control of infectious diseases is a major challenge of the century. Arthropod vectors are proliferating, leading to increasing prevalence of deadly diseases (e.g., malaria, dengue, and yellow fever). In several countries, particularly the poorest ones, vector control using insecticides is the only affordable way to fight these diseases. Unfortunately, resistance to these insecticides is often rapidly selected and is now widespread in many arthropod vectors. The general aim of this chapter is to provide a global overview of insecticide-resistance mechanisms and their evolution in disease vectors. Overall, it appears that some changes in the treatment strategies are urgently required to manage the development of insecticide resistance. This includes carefully using available insecticides, using alternative tools, and finally implicating the local communities in order to establish a continuous survey of resistance. Clearly, the greatest challenge for successful vector and disease control is the coordination of the different actors, despite their divergent agendas. Besides its implications in public health, insecticide resistance is a powerful model to study the evolution of adaptation; these fundamental approaches concurring to design new vector-control strategies.