Novel Mosquito Net Nearly Halves Malaria Infection in Community Trials in Tanzania

Abstract

A novel class of bed net that kills mosquitoes resistant to traditional insecticides by making them unable to move or fly, significantly reduces malaria infection in children, according to new research published in The Lancet public health journal. Unlike other insecticides which kill the mosquito via the nervous system, the effects of the new bed net means the mosquito dies from muscle paralysis, being unable to undertake cellular respiration, continue flying or blood feeding. A two-year community randomised trial involved more than 39,000 households and followed over 4,500 children aged 6 months to 14 years in Tanzania. It found that a longlasting insecticidal net treated with two insecticides, chlorfenapyr and the pyrethroid alpha-cypermethrin (chlorfenapyr LLIN), reduced the prevalence of malaria by 43% and 37% in the first and second year respectively, compared to a standard pyrethroid only long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN). The chlorfenapyr LLIN also reduced clinical episodes of malaria by 44% over the two years and the number of malaria-carrying mosquitoes sampled in exit traps by 85%.