RFI: Adverse effects of impregnated bed nets (3)
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Dear Vera
Your apprehension against the use of insecticide on bed nets is ex-
actly the same as mine more than a decade ago. Having spent several
years under an un-impregnated bed net I found the idea of being under
an impregnated bed net preposterous. The result of my stubbornness
was that I did get malaria.
Seeing all the results of field tests of impregnated bed nets I had
to acknowledge that bed nets must be insecticide impregnated. The re-
sults of death averted between impregnated and non-impregnated bed
nets are so huge that you cannot be in doubt. Unfortunately, I do not
have the data here, but I have read somewhere, that the day all peo-
ple in Africa exposed to malaria are covered under a bed net, there
would still be a million more children dying if they were only using
un-impregnated bed nets as compared to impregnated.
In the mean time Jo Lines has suggested some literature, and if you
consult WHO you will find more to persuade you.
But we should still minimize the use of insecticide, and that is what
we have done with our PermaNet(tm). A normal community dipping for
insecticide impregnation will take place 8 to 10 times in a bed nets
lifetime. In a normal dipping you will use 25 mg/m2 of deltamethrin,
this means 200 to 250 mg plus the left over waste that is dropped
somewhere in the environment. Our PermaNet(tm) impregnation gives the
same protection with 50 mg/m2 and all waste is carefully
taken care of in our central productions. So PermaNet(tm) gives the
same protection with the use of at least 4 times less insecticide.
As for the few people who do get allergy I have not seen any allergic
response when they have washed the bed net once. Which, of course, is
better to do with a PermaNet(tm) before you hang it up, as you can
wash it so many times.
Best regards,
TORBEN
Vestergaard Frandsen Group
Torben Vestergaard Frandsen
Director of Development
Mailto:tvf@vestergaard-frandsen.com
Tel: +45-7550-3050
Fax: +45-7550-3044
Http://www.PermaNet.dk
www.Vestergaard-Frandsen.com
Http://www.vestergaardfrandsen.com
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