Sunday, 1 May 2011

MALARIA: Claims about the Misuse of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Nets: Are These Evidence-Based?

Eisele TP, Thwing J, Keating J (2011) April 12, 2011

There are a number of potentially damaging misconceptions about insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) in Africa that have been propagated in media reports, almost all of which are based on anecdotal accounts.

While it is clear there is room for improving the level of ITN use among those who have them, and that misuse of nets occasionally occurs, we found very little evidence to support claims of widespread misuse across Africa.
We identified only one peer-reviewed study that reported misuse of ITNs; this study was a non-probability survey of seven beaches on Lake Victoria in western Kenya, making the conclusions non-generalizable.
Inaccurate news stories of widespread ITN misuse should be rebuked directly through the dissemination of empirical data contradicting anecdotal reports and in rebuttal editorials in newspapers and journals.
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001019

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