Physical durability: are bed nets getting any stronger?

For at least a decade, concerns have been raised about the physical durability of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and their ability to remain in good condition for at least three years. To discover if the resistance to damage (RD) of ITNs has improved or not, the RD scores of ITNs sampled in 2013 an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Malaria journal 2024-01, Vol.23 (1), p.19-10, Article 19
Main Authors: Wheldrake, Amy, Guillemois, Estelle, Arouni, Hamidreza, Chetty, Vera, Zappa, Edoardo, Russell, Stephen J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coronaviruses
Damage
Disease prevention
Durability
Durable goods
High density polyethylenes
Humans
Insecticide-Treated Bednets
Insecticides
Long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets
Malaria
Materials
Mosquito Control
Nets
Pesticides
Physical integrity
Polyethylene terephthalate
Prevention
Product development
Public health
Resistance to damage
Risk factors
Textiles
Toughness
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:For at least a decade, concerns have been raised about the physical durability of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and their ability to remain in good condition for at least three years. To discover if the resistance to damage (RD) of ITNs has improved or not, the RD scores of ITNs sampled in 2013 and 2020 were compared. The RD scores and disaggregated textile performance data for nine ITNs recommended by the WHO pesticide evaluation scheme (WHOPES) measured in 2013 were compared with WHO-prequalified ITNs sampled in 2020. This included assessment of newer ITNs not available in 2013, to determine the extent to which product development has led to performance improvements across all available ITNs in the intervening years. The resistance to damage of ITNs has not generally improved from 2013 to 2020, and in some cases performance is worse. The average RD score of comparable ITNs brands decreased from 40 in 2013 to 36 in 2020. Of the nets available in 2020, only two of the twenty-four ITN products tested achieved an RD score of > 50, while six ITNs had very low RD scores of 
ISSN:1475-2875
1475-2875
DOI:10.1186/s12936-023-04832-8