JOIN USBed nets best option against malaria: WHO
Though they remind everyone of a bygone era, bed nets continue to be the best weapon against malaria, a World Health Organisation-backed research has found.
A five-year investigation has unearthed fresh evidence on the effectiveness of bed nets, laced with an insecticide to kill mosquito and protect people from malaria, which continues to be one of the world’s biggest public health threats.
Researchers found people who slept under bed nets in 340 locations across five countries—Benin, Cameroon, India, Kenya and Sudan—had significantly lower rates of malaria infection than those who did not use a net, even though mosquitoes showed resistance to insecticides everywhere.
“The key finding is that (insecticide) treated nets continue to be a highly effective tool in the malaria fight. The study supports WHO’s continued call for achieving universal coverage of such bed nets for all populations at risk of malaria,” said Pedro Alonso, who heads WHO’s global malaria programme.
Africa and South East Asia remain two of the world’s worst malaria hot spots.
Supplying treated bed nets is one of the strategies adopted by the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme to reduce India’s malaria incidence. India plans to eliminate malaria by 2030.
Researchers attributed the continued efficacy of the chemical-laced bed nets to the combined effect of the barrier provided by the nets and the insecticides themselves.
They noted that even in areas where the insects developed resistance to the chemicals used in the nets (pyrethroids), treated nets can still kill the mosquitoes.
“A resistant mosquito may not die immediately after landing on a net, but it could continue to absorb insecticide as it seeks a way to get through and bite a person beneath the net,” said Tessa Knox, a WHO scientist involved in the evaluation.
“This may eventually kill the mosquito and stop onward transmission of malaria parasites,” she added.
The fact that these bed nets remain effective is an indication that resistance is not an all-or-nothing proposition and that pyrethroids are likely retaining some level of impact in many areas, she said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, where the findings were presented.
However, mosquito resistance to insecticides remains a growing concern among public health policy specialists.
According to WHO estimates, 60 countries have reported mosquito resistance to at least one of the four insecticides used in insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying since 2010.
Of these, 49 countries have reported resistance to two or more insecticide classes.
DH News Service
Precautionary measure
A five-year investigation has unearthed fresh evidence on the effectiveness of bed nets, laced with an insecticide to kill mosquitos and protect people from malaria.
Researchers found people who slept under bed nets in 340 locations across five countries—Benin, Cameroon, India, Kenya and Sudan—had significantly lower rates of malaria infection than those who did not use a net, though mosquitoes showed
resistance to insecticides everywhere.
According to WHO estimates, 60 countries have reported mosquito resistance to at least one of the four insecticides used in insecticide treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying since 2010