Fig. 1

Example of directly measured and behaviour-adjusted estimates of human exposure to malaria vectors from Asembo, western Kenya in 2011. Mosquito biting data was collected using human landing catches from June through July 2011 and human behavioural data was collected using a cross-sectional survey conducted from July through August 2011 [52]. Series A shows the proportion of the human population (1) outdoors (2) indoors and awake, and (3) indoors and asleep throughout the night, overlaid with directly measured indoor and outdoor biting rates for Anopheles arabiensis. Based on biting density alone, the estimated percentage of vector bites occurring indoors = 63%. Series B integrates vector and human behaviour data to show behaviour-adjusted cumulative exposure to vector bites for an unprotected individual. The percentage of vector bites occurring indoors for an unprotected individual \(\left( {\pi_{I,\,u}}\right)\) = 97% and the percentage occurring while asleep indoors for an unprotected individual \(\left( {\pi_{S,u}}\right)\) = 84%