THE US military has been adding insecticide to clothing for years. Now a study of Somalian refugees suggests that a similar technique could be the next best thing to mosquito bed nets when it comes to fighting malaria.
Ninety-seven volunteers at a refugee camp in Kenya had their clothes and bedding washed in the common insecticide permethrin every three weeks, while another group of 101 volunteers had their clothes and bedding washed in water. Both groups were allowed to wash their clothes normally in between.
Washing in insecticide reduced the odds of malarial infection by 70 per cent compared with…
