Goats and soda: NPR

Babies could soon join soldiers in the fight to ward off malaria.

For years, the American army has treated uniforms with insecticides to repel mosquitoes and the malaria that they can transmit. Ross Boyce Used by carrying a before becoming infectious doctor and malaria researcher at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

He wondered if babies could obtain similar protection – not a uniform, but treating the coiled baby that many mothers in sub -Saharan Africa use to wear their young.

“It seems in a way obvious to do,” he said, especially given the risk – almost every minute, a child under 5 in sub -Saharan Africa dies from malaria. In addition, existing tools such as insecticides bed fillets can only protect children while they sleep.

So Boyce and his colleagues tested this idea in a large randomized controlled trial. In a rural part of western Uganda, 200 mothers with children between 6 and 18 months obtained a baby envelope soaked in Permethrine, while 200 others obtained a water envelope. All the participants also obtained a brand new trendy bed.

During 6 months, young participants visited clinics every two weeks to be checked for the symptoms of malaria and tested. The team also looked for side effects. Every four weeks, the researchers regenerated the envelopes in case the permethrin dissipates. “It was probably exaggerated,” said Boyce. “But we really wanted to know, if we have enough permethrin in there, does it work?”

The answer: a resounding yes. “It was a level of effect that even exceeded our wildest expectations,” said Boyce.

More than 6 months, 34 children from the Permethrine group were tested positive for malaria, against 94 in the Wablap group soaked in water, a reduction of approximately 65%.

“It is a very great reduction, surprisingly,” said Thomas EiseleMalaria researcher at the University of Tulane who was not involved in the study. The magnitude of the reduction suggests that mosquitoes bites more often than during the day, he says.

“We have struck a brick wall where we do not progress with our existing tools,” explains Eisele. “These types of interventions will be critical.”

The major discounts did not seem to have accompanied by major side effects during the experience, which was a concern. Permethrine Can cause growth and neurological problems if they are ingested at high levels.

“When (permethrin) is treated on the fabric, there is much less transmission through the skin,” he said. In addition, children were generally dressed in packaging, so there was not much direct contact. However, around 8.5% of babies had a light rash in the treatment group against 6% in control.

“Nothing is a zero risk, and it is a compromise that must be taken into consideration,” he says, “but we know that obtaining malaria is not good for children either.”

In the real world, withdraw wraps as often as during the experience could be uncreative, explains Boyce. But this may also not be necessary because manufacturers are able to create clothes treated with sustainable permethrin.

At the bottom of the line, Boyce imagines that mothers could get a lasting envelope when they come to clinics to obtain vaccines, offering additional protection before babies start to walk alone.

However, deployment could work, the request would be high, predicts the co-author of the study Edgar MulogoResearcher at Mbara University in Uganda. “The excitement to use (the wraps) was simply huge,” he said. He heard a participant say “when the children were under the wraps, they did not die”.