London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The risk that children will become infected with malaria can be substantially reduced through a novel combination of measures to kill the larvae of the malaria mosquito and the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITN), according to a paper published today in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Dr Ulrike Fillinger of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, lead author of a study into the effect of combining vector control with microbial larvicides and ITNs, found that anti-larval measures proved to be a promising complement to ITN distribution in western Kenya.

“A marked increase in malaria has recently been noted in the African highlands, largely due to the rise of drug-resistant strains of malaria parasites and land-use changes,” Fillinger said. “Our findings suggest that vector (mosquito) control in Africa targeting all stages of the mosquito life-cycle – including the larva stage – can be a highly effective tool for reducing malaria in the future in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa.”

For the past 50 years, vector control has focused largely on adult mosquito control in tropical Africa. WHO recommends integrated vector management using all relevant methods of mosquito control.

The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world’s leading public health journals. It is the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO), with a special focus on developing countries. Articles are peer-reviewed and are independent of WHO guidelines.

Further items in this issue of the Bulletin include:

• Update on pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine development in an interview with Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, director of WHO’s Initiative for Vaccine Research.
• European food manufacturers need to prove health claims.
• New tuberculosis cases reduced more by economic improvements rather than control programmes.
• Revenue from tobacco tax may be a deterrent to tobacco control activities in the Republic of Korea.
• Call for education on the safe use of paraffin for cooking stoves in South Africa.
• How birthing services are adapted for indigenous women in Peru.
• Ghana close to eliminating guinea worm.
• Balancing benefits and harms of scientific findings.