Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Use of Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets In Combination with Insect Repellents To Prevent Malaria

        Some of the measures used to control malaria infection in tropical places includes the use of insecticides and mosquito nets or a combination of both. Tourists who intend to travel to tropical or subtropical regions where malaria is endemic are often advised to use insecticide treated mosquito nets. According to research, to increase the effectiveness of the use of these nets, they have to be used at the times when mosquitoes feed the most in that area. For example in some areas the vectors feed in the early evening. Research has shown that the effectiveness of this prevention method in these areas can be increased by using the nets between dusk and bedtime.
      A study published in the British Medical Journal was conducted to determine if there was a decrease in the incidence of malaria infection if the mosquito nets were also treated with plant based mosquito repellents. The study was conducted in Bolivia. In this study, all the participants used insecticide treated mosquito nets. One group also used a plant plant based insect repellent and another group used a placebo. The results of the experiments showed a 80% decrease in the the infecion rate of plasmodium vivax, one of the types of parasites that cause malaria in that region in the group that used the net and the plant based repellent.
     The researchers concluded that insect repellents can provide protection against malaria in areas where the vectors bite in the early evening if used appropriately.

References

1.  Hill, N., Lenglet , A., & Arnez , A. M. (2007). Plant based insect repellent and insecticide treated bed nets to protect against malaria in areas of early evening biting vectors: Double blind randomized placebo controlled clinical trial in the bolivian amazon. British Medical Journal, 1023. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC207866

 2. Takken W. Do insecticide-treated bednets have an effect on malaria vectors? Trop Med Int Health. 2002 Dec;7(12):1022-30. Review. PubMed PMID: 12460393. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12460393.


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7 comments:

  1. hmuncaOctober 3, 2012 at 1:13 PM

    Great start. Do you know if the plant-based insecticides were as effective as synthetic pesticides? What kind of plant-based pesticide was used? I read recently that Osage Oranges contain a compound that is as effective as DEET.

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    1. seun ayoadeOctober 26, 2012 at 1:47 PM

      Osage Oranges? Interesting. I will certainly look into that.

      Delete
  2. Melissa WoolardOctober 6, 2012 at 7:35 PM

    It's fantastic that something as simple as a treated nets can make such an impact. I read about Malaria outbreaks occurring that kill many people, and nets are something easy and relatively cheap that could be distributed to help areas that are desperately in need.

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    1. seun ayoadeOctober 26, 2012 at 1:48 PM

      Yes. It's amazing the results that simple interventions can produce.

      Delete
  3. UnknownNovember 19, 2012 at 1:54 PM

    I wonder if planting the plants that produce these repelants around peoples house would have any effect?

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  4. UnknownNovember 19, 2012 at 3:47 PM

    DDT has been the best preventer of Malaria in the African Continent. Except it does do harm to people who ingest it.

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  5. hmuncaNovember 21, 2012 at 12:13 PM

    Interesting point Vivian. Those osage oranges aka. Horse apples have a naturally occurring insect repellant that is reportedly as effective as ddt.

    ReplyDelete

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