Mosquito nets: Why is malaria still a thing?
For what has become a quarterly thing now, I came down with malaria just a couple of days ago. This would be the third bout of malaria this year alone. When the World Health Organization announced the breakthrough that is the mosquito net, I personally thought it was about time a goodbye is said to malaria.
For what it's worth, once mosquito bites become a thing of the past, the transmission of malaria parasites through mosquito bites becomes difficult. In fact, malaria disease would be as good as being eradicated because transmission through mosquito bites is about the only form of transmission.
However, despite all the initial hype about mosquito nets and their potential to end malaria, the disease remains at large in areas where it is endemic. This is even based on the ground that mosquito nets became freely available for everyone at some point - and still are in some places.
Mosquito nets being available exclusively at a cost could have been an argument against their potential to end malaria. A visit to the outpatient departments of many Nigerian hospitals will tell you that malaria remains the number one disease that threatens the health of Nigerians.
I am certain this is what is obtainable in other malaria-endemic countries of the world. So, what else are we getting wrong with mosquito nets that seem to not be producing the much-needed result of significantly reducing or even eradicating malaria?
The mosquito net
The mosquito net is a clothing material of variable mesh sizes. The materials could be nylon, polyethylene, or even cotton. Many people think that the appendage of the words 'mosquito nets' is only applicable to those nets that are hung over beds or used to delimit space outdoor.
Mosquito nets actually include some that are fixed to windows, doors, or even as part of the natural home aesthetics. Also, mosquito nets are not designed exclusively to screen mosquitoes.
Depending on the mesh size, some mosquito nets also serve to screen small insects that can constitute a nuisance or be of health concern to humans or their pets/livestock. While some are permanently stationed, some nets can be hung and folded as when due.
Some mosquito nets do not just screen mosquitoes or other small insects away from humans. They are treated with insecticides and as such, kill any mosquito or insect that comes close or gets in contact with them.
Issues with mosquito nets
If mosquito nets do indeed screen mosquitoes away from humans, we should have said goodbye to malaria a long while ago. While mosquito nets are able to perform the said functions to an extent, there are a few issues that have been mitigating the eradication of malaria through the use of mosquito nets.
Reduced air circulation
Most apartments in this part of the world where mosquitos thrive have mosquito nets attached to their windows either permanently or in a slide-able way. The same cannot be said for doors though. Even if there are mosquito nets affixed to doors, mosquitoes are still able to gain entrance whenever the doors are opened for human access.
This means that apart from the mosquito nets affixed to windows or doors, every household is still required to sleep under mosquito nets. However, most households do not sleep under mosquito nets, and it is not because they do not have one. It is simply because these nets tend to reduce air circulation.
Apart from the fact that reduced ventilation can be anecdotally deduced by anyone that has had reasons to sleep under mosquito nets, scientific investigations have revealed that mosquito nets reduce ventilation by up to 75%. Variations exist depending on the mesh size. The bigger the mesh, the more the reduction in ventilation.
Thus, those of us in the tropics with a relatively high annual average temperature and where mosquitoes thrive, are torn between enduring the reduced air circulation associated with the use of mosquito nets or the nuisance of mosquitoes and the consequences of their bites.
Most of the time, especially when an artificial ventilator is lacking, many prefer to expose themselves to mosquitoes than sleep under mosquito nets. This particular problem of reduced air circulation has been reported to be the major factor working against the use of mosquito nets as a means to reduce or eradicate malaria.
Allergic reaction to insecticides
This is applicable to insecticide-treated mosquito nets only. In actual fact, one will have to dig deep before getting mosquito nets that are not treated with insecticides nowadays.
Despite the fact that it is always instructable to spread new insecticide-treated nets in the air for up to 48 hours before sleeping under them, I have seen many people who developed allergic reactions to these nets.
Thus, many people stay as far away from these nets as much as possible without even finding out if they are allergic to the chemicals or otherwise. They simply do so from a third-party experience.
Mosquito nets-defying mosquito bites
Yea. Sleeping under mosquito nets does not give a 100% guarantee that one will not be bitten by mosquitoes. If you are a clumsy sleeper and unfortunate enough for your body to be in contact with the mosquito net, mosquitoes can still get access to your body by using their proboscis through the mesh.
Summary
The advent of mosquito nets has created the possibility of eradicating malaria - or so we initially thought. However, there have been a couple of problems that make this aim insurmountable.
Mosquito nets reduce the ventilation that gets into the space they are screening, some people develop allergic reactions to nets that are treated with insecticides, and one can still get bitten by mosquitoes despite sleeping under mosquito nets.
In conclusion, in order to effectively get rid of malaria, a disease that has claimed more lives than COVID ever will, we need to look beyond mosquito nets. This is because the problems associated with the usage of mosquito nets will simply not go away.
What do you think?
Thank you all for reading.
Resources and further reading
Posted with STEMGeeks
That mosquito net looks very elegant to me. Its useful and look very cool
There are more elegantly looking ones, if you search around enough.
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Funny enough, I came down with malaria some 4 days back.
However, I don't sleep under mosquito nets. So I am totally guilty of this.
But the thing is people dont stay permanently within mosquito nets. For example, whn people go for night vigils, they are exposed to serious mosquitoes and this in turn can be a source of malaria..
Also, there can be a relapse.. I mean there are species of plasmodium that are prone to causing relapse.
Well, I hope you are better
I don't sleep under mosquito nets too. I think the trophozoites of plasmodium have the capacity to evade drugs and later multiply to cause a relapse. So, sometimes one does not need to get bitten by mosquitoes before they can come down with malaria.
Well, some species are resistant tho not necessarily evade.
Some species are known for hiding within the liver only for them to relapse.
I discovered a trend while consulting in Ibadan.
Shartem antimalarial doesn't really work and so patients still come back after completing their full dose.
I think that letting the mosquito entering the house is worse! maybe adding nets to the windows will improve the efficacy !
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I never had issues with ventilation sleeping under the mosquito net. Then again, my grandparents were the type of people that had fans on during the night.
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Fan is a luxury for a country like mine where electricity supply is erratic.
Haven't thought of that. Makes sense.
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I’ve never been comfortable with mosquito nets.
I attended a boarding school and it was mandatory every student had a mosquito net.
Every night, I was so uncomfortable and sweaty; sometimes I had breathing problems. So, I had to get permission from the Matron then to be exempted because they did night patrol at odd hours 😒.
Btw, I don’t know what going on that everyone is coming down with malaria this period. It’s worse than I thought.
I hope you’re getting better @gentleshaid.
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Long time ago I encountered the idea of laser-zapping mosquitoes. Maybe it was a TED lecture. I guess that didn't go anywhere?
Hope you get well!
There are other ways to repel mosquitoes though. One is through the sugar bottle method since mosquitoes, like flies, are drawn to sweet scents so using that would greatly reduce mosquitoes. There's also sleeping with the lights on since mosquitoes are practically blind to light.
But I do remember anti-mosquito mosquitoes being developed in Singapore
Well, is not even about sleeping in a mosquito net. What about when we undergo our daily activities. I think the only way of eliminating mosquito is by finding a way of making sure that there is no more mosquito again in our environment
I think mosquito net has greatly reduced the incidence of malaria. Personally, I can't sleep without net. The truth is outside the net, what happens? Nets used at night(I use net whenever I want to sleep) can't stop a mosquitoes from biting when you go to use the toilet. I don't think the problem here is mosquito net. it’d be unfair to say that mosquito net hasnt helped. God bless whosoever invented mosquito net. God bless that person!.