Bed-nets (mosquito-nets) and morbidity from malaria.
A study was undertaken in the Farafenni area of The Gambia to determine the relation between morbidity from malaria in children and the use of bed-nets (mosquito-nets). From comparisons of parasite and spleen rates in bed-net users and in non-users it seemed that bed-nets had a strong protective effect. However, the prevalence of malaria in the study population was also influenced by ethnic group and place of residence, and the association of bed-net use with these two confounding factors accounted for some of the differences observed between bed-net users and non-users. Nevertheless, a significant inverse correlation between splenomegaly and the use of bed-nets remained. This suggests that bed-nets give Gambian children some protection against malaria and that the use of bed-nets, either untreated or treated with an insecticide such as permethrin, should be investigated further as a means of malaria control in Africa.
Bradley
A K
AK
Greenwood
B M
BM
Greenwood
A M
AM
Marsh
K
K
Byass
P
P
Tulloch
S
S
Hayes
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001513:Beds; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D009033:Culicidae; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005714:Gambia; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires