Use of paralyzing toxin nearly halves the incidence of malaria

The researchers conducted a two-year randomized clinical trial in Tanzania, covering more than 39

thousand families and more than 4.5 thousandchildren aged from 6 months to 14 years. The study results showed that a long-lasting insecticidal net treated with two insecticides, chlorfenapyr and a pyrethroid, reduced the incidence of malaria by 43% in the first year and 37% in the second year compared with a traditional net treated with pyrethroid alone.

In addition, the use of chlorfenapyr reduced the number of clinical cases of malaria by 44% in two years and increased the number of malarial mosquitoes caught by 85%.

Long lasting insecticide nets aremainstay for malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the past few years, the decline in malaria has halted and even reversed in some countries. In 2020, according to the WHO, 627,000 people died from malaria, mostly in Africa, most of them children.

Traditional insecticides (pyrethroids),used to treat mosquito nets, affect the nervous system of mosquitoes. They disrupt the process of nerve signal transmission, which leads to paralysis and death of insects. However, as scientists note, long-term use of pyrethroids has led to the development of resistance to this toxin in mosquitoes.

Chlorfenapyr works in a completely different way thanpyrethroids. This toxin causes wing muscle spasms, making it impossible for mosquitoes to move and fly. Mosquitoes after contact with the toxin cannot bite a person, they simply die of hunger.

“We have shown that protective nets based onchlorfenapyr is safe, reduces the incidence of malaria in children, and is cost effective,” says Natasha Protopopova, study leader at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

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