A Scoping Review Protocol of Malaria Vectors in Malaysia

Introduction: Malaria is still a public health threat. From 2010 to 2017, a total of 33, 181 malaria cases were recorded in Malaysia. Thus, effective intervention and key entomological information are vital to interrupt or in preventing malaria transmission. Therefore, availability of malaria vectors information is desperately needed. The objective of this study is to established protocols of new and potential malaria vector as a part of existing malaria vectors in Malaysia for human and zoonotic infection. Methods and analysis: Scoping review will be conducted based on Arksey and O’Malley’s methodology on four electronic databases; Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar and Science Direct. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) will be used as a systematic approach. All relevant nding will be managed by Mendeley software and Microsoft Excel program. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not required on secondary of data. Study ndings will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication.


Introduction
Malaria is still a public health threat. It is responsible for 17% of the global burden of parasitic and infectious diseases causing over a million deaths and considerable mortality and morbidity worldwide 1 .
WHO recorded a total of 219 million malaria cases and 435,000 malaria deaths around the world 2 . On the other hand, Malaysia recorded 33, 181 malaria cases from 2010 until 2017 3 .
Malaria was caused by four species of Plasmodium species i.e. Plasmodium malariae, P. ovale, P. vivax and P. falciparum. However, study done by White 4 and Cox-singh & Singh 5 , con rmed another Plasmodium species responsible for zoonotic malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi as a fth species.
Malaria is a vector-borne disease transmitted by Anopheles mosquito 6 . In 2007, WHO recorded 4,500 species of mosquitoes worldwide, in 34 genera from family Culicidae, order Diptera, class Insecta and phylum Arthropoda 6 . It is interestingly noted that only 70 species of Anophelines were con rmed as malaria vectors around the world 1 . Malaysia recorded 434 species of mosquitoes 7 . In 1997, Rahman et al., documented that there were 75 species of Anopheles recorded in Malaysia 8 . Previous study recorded there are 9 species of Anopheles which were established as a malaria vector in Malaysia, namely Anopheles balabacensis, An maculatus, An campestris, An sundaicus, An letifer, An donaldi, An dirus, An leucosphyrus and An avirostris 8 . It is interesting to investigate potential malaria vector in keeping with new technology for species complex identi cation. Potential malaria vector is de ned by the vectorial capacity of vector population to transmit malaria 9 .
In accordance to that, Malaysia is working towards eliminating malaria and prevention of reestablishment 2 . Therefore, effective entomological surveillance is most important tools in order to interrupt malaria transmission. This can be achieved by designing a targeted control intervention based on the behavioral of malaria vector. For example, Anopheles balabacencis will rest outdoor after feeding 10 . Therefore, vector control activities need to be applied and strengthen on wall of the house, tree trunk, bushes or at any possible resting places. Thus, this review will serve as a resource for entomologists, malaria personnel and practitioners to inform malaria vectors in Malaysia. Consequently, entomological information accelerates the process of malaria elimination by enhancing the impact of e cacy of intervention needed 2 . The objectives of this study are to review malaria vectors as well as potential malaria vectors in Malaysia.

Methods And Analysis Protocol Design
This study will broadly cover subject's area with the nature of research activity on the topic in accordance (3) selecting studies; (4) charting the data; (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results and (6) consulting with relevant stakeholder. This scoping review will adhere to 22-Items for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Review (PRISMA-ScR) 13  Articles will be identi ed using medical subject heading and keywords combination of titles, abstract and keywords (Appendix) using systematic approach to search, screen, review and data extraction. Search will not be restricted by year or language. All selected search results will be imported into Mendeley software and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (Microsoft Corporation, USA) for references and to manage duplications.

Stage 3: Study selection
All entomological research conducted in Malaysia will be included in this study including the previous reports such as longitudinal study, cross-sectional study, observational study and descriptive report. Firstly, inclusion and exclusion criteria will be used to determine the eligibility of the articles based on the title as the screening part of the review process. Any titles indicated that the research was conducted outside Malaysia will be removed. Secondly, titles and abstracts will be selected based on eligibility criteria. Only abstracts that ful ll the inclusion criteria will be further analyzed. Selected Full articles from of the selected abstracts will be reviewed and included in this study if it is considered signi cant and relevant studies.

Stage 4: Charting the data
The signi cant study characteristics from published research literature review will be extracted by a standardized data extraction framework (Table 1). Data extraction framework was developed to guide the extraction and charting process of the data from the articles. It will consist of the standard bibliographical information (title, author, journal, year of publication, language, location of the study and study objectives). Additional information such as type of study, primary outcome and other valuable information section will be included as well. Respectively it will provide an overall signi cant information about the study and to facilitate data analysis.

Stage 5: Collating, summarizing, and reporting the results
This scoping review intended to present an overview of study area compare to a systematic review where meta-synthesis reporting was required. Thus, information gather will be reported based on selection criteria. The nding of this study will summarize all data and information from the relevant articles and will emphasize the scope of malaria vectors in Malaysia. Furthermore, gaps in research targeting a speci c area will be identi ed and determine. This study will use PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines to accurately report the review search results.

Stage 6: Consulting with relevant stakeholder
There is a need for entomological information regarding malaria vectors in Malaysia due to insu cient data available. These information are valuable for planning an effective intervention as well as accelerating the malaria elimination certi cation. Relevant stakeholders for example, Entomology and Pest Sector, Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health had been consulted and series of discussions will be made as this is an ongoing study. Outcome from the discussions will provide the insights of current entomological situation in malaria risk area as well as malaria situation in Malaysia and ongoing operational research.

Declarations ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION
Ethical approval is not required as there is no primary data collection. An article detailing the ndings of the scoping review will be submitted to a Scienti c Journal for publication. Study ndings will be disseminated via open-access publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations to stakeholders, relevant meetings, conferences and Continuous Medical Education at department level as well as part of future seminars and workshops. It will contribute as a dossier of Malaria Elimination Program of Ministry of Health Malaysia.  Appendixformalariavectorscoping.docx