TY  - JOUR
T1  - When Resistance Ratios Mislead: Reframing Laboratory Susceptibility Data for Real-World Mosquito-Control Decisions and Public-Health Accountability
A1  - Gabriel Costa
A1  - Lucas Ribeiro
A1  - Rafael Mendes
A1  - Yuki Yamamoto
JF  - Entomology and Applied Science Letters
JO  - Entomol Appl Sci Lett
SN  - 2349-2864
Y1  - 2025
VL  - 12
IS  - 4
DO  - 10.51847/QwLn70e1kK
SP  - 58
EP  - 67
N2  - Resistance ratios and laboratory susceptibility classifications are central to mosquito insecticide-resistance surveillance, but their operational interpretation remains uncertain. A quantitative or statistically significant shift in toxicological response does not, by itself, establish the probability of mosquito-control failure, the magnitude of lost protection, or the appropriate public-health response. This perspective article examines the methodological and conceptual gap between laboratory resistance metrics and real-world control outcomes. It integrates evidence concerning resistance measurement, assay design, biological mechanisms, mosquito behaviour, human–vector contact, intervention coverage, product performance, epidemiological outcomes, uncertainty, and institutional accountability. The synthesis indicates that operational meaning emerges only when a valid resistance measurement is connected to the biological phenotype expressed in the target population, the exposure actually produced by a specific intervention, and the entomological or epidemiological outcome of interest. Laboratory susceptibility is therefore evidence about a defined toxicological response under imposed conditions, not a substitute for field exposure or intervention effectiveness. Conversely, uncertainty in translation should not be used to dismiss resistance signals or to declare control failure without corroborating evidence. The article develops a non-validated interpretive structure in which measurement validity, biological relevance, exposure equivalence, intervention-system performance, and public-health consequence are assessed as separate but related domains. Its principal implication is that resistance surveillance should be designed around explicit decisions rather than isolated assay outputs. Progress requires prospectively linked toxicological, behavioural, product-quality, implementation, and outcome data, together with transparent attribution rules that identify what is known, what remains uncertain, what alternative explanations remain plausible, and which actor is responsible for obtaining the next level of evidence.
UR  - https://easletters.com/article/when-resistance-ratios-mislead-reframing-laboratory-susceptibility-data-for-real-world-mosquito-con-qib1coio49gdsom
ER  -