Just bed nets enough for protection against malaria

There is no need to spray insecticide on walls for malaria control when people sleep under treated bed nets, says a new research.

"Use of insecticide spray on internal walls, when combined with insecticide-treated bed nets in homes, does not protect children from malaria any more effectively than using just insecticide-treated bed nets," researchers from Durham University and the Medical Research Council's Unit in Gambia found.

The researchers said this was important as insecticide-treated nets and insecticide sprayed on walls are commonly used for controlling malaria and in many places, both interventions are used together.

The study took place in 96 villages in Gambia and 8,000 children were checked for malaria over two years.

At the end of the study, there was no difference in the numbers of cases of malaria where the combination of spraying and nets was used compared with the use of bed nets alone.

Using mosquito traps in houses, the researchers confirmed that insecticide sprayed on walls had no extra effect in repelling or killing mosquitoes.

"We found no evidence that this was a more effective method of combating mosquitoes than using treated bed nets on their own," said professor Steve Lindsay from the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Durham University.

For the moment, every effort should be made to make sure there is a higher use of bed nets rather than on spraying insecticide on walls.

"This will help keep costs down and increase the number of people who are protected," the scientists concluded.

The research was published in The Lancet.