Fumigation is an effective method to prevent malaria

• April 25, 2024

While the vaccine or the medicine that helps eradicating malaria arrives, the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and indoor fumigation with residual insecticides remain the two most effective ways of controlling mosquitoes.

According to the latest report of the UNICEF , The alliance Roll Back Malaria and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria , only in 2008, 100 million mosquito nets were distributed, tripling the figure, compared to 2004, when 30 million were distributed worldwide.

This means that more than 40% of the populations at risk have mosquito nets. The report estimates that between 2009 and 2010, 240 million more mosquito nets will be delivered, which is expected to cover the majority of the population.

These bed nets treated with long-acting insecticides are distributed among pregnant women and minors as part of integrated health action programs that include prenatal care and vaccination.

The effectiveness of fumigation

Indoor fumigation with residual insecticides is considered to be the most potent means of rapidly reducing malaria transmission.

According to international organizations, the best results are obtained when at least 80% of the houses in the endemic areas are fumigated.

Depending on the type of insecticide, the fumigation can have a short period of effectiveness that lasts between three and six months or longer, which could reach from nine and up to 12 months.

Proper clothing

In the prevention of malaria, some antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine , although it has been detected that the disease has become more resistant to this type of drugs.

People who travel to areas where malaria prevails are recommended, in addition to visiting the doctor and requesting the administration of antimalarial drugs, avoiding mosquito bites by wearing clothing that covers arms, hands and legs, as well as using protective screens on windows and insect repellents.
 

Video Medicine: Malaria | How Can Malaria Be Prevented? | StreamingWell.com (April 2024).