Reducing Visceral Leishmaniasis by Insecticide Impregnation of Bed-Nets, Bangladesh - Vol. 19 No. 7 - July 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Reducing Visceral Leishmaniasis by Insecticide Impregnation of Bed-Nets, Bangladesh - Vol. 19 No. 7 - July 2013 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Summer Buzz

Polyxeni Potter

Author affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Suggested citation for this article

Volume 19, Number 7—July 2013

Dispatch

Reducing Visceral Leishmaniasis by Insecticide Impregnation of Bed-Nets, Bangladesh

Article Contents

• The Study
• Conclusions
• Acknowledgments
• References
• Figure 1
• Figure 2
• Table 1
• Table 2
• Technical Appendix [164 KB - 6 pages]
• Suggested Citation

Dinesh Mondal , M. Mamun Huda, Mithun Kumar Karmoker, Debashis Ghosh, Greg Matlashewski, Shah Golam Nabi, and Axel Kroeger

Author affiliations: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh (D. Mondal, M.M. Huda, M.K. Karmoker, D. Ghosh); World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (G. Matlashewski, A. Kroeger); Directorate General of Health Services of the Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka (S.G. Nabi); Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK (A. Kroeger)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

The effect of insecticide-treated materials on reducing visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is disputable. In Bangladesh, we evaluated the effect of a community-based intervention with insecticide impregnation of existing bed-nets in reducing VL incidence. This intervention reduced VL by 66.5%. Widespread bed-net impregnation with slow-release insecticide may control VL in Bangladesh.

The governments of Bangladesh, India, and Nepal have committed to eliminate visceral leishmaniasis (VL) by 2015 (1). Reducing VL incidence by controlling sandflies, the vector of Leishmania spp. parasites, through integrated vector management is a key strategy of elimination programs (2). Community-based intervention with insecticide-treated materials, such as distribution of long-lasting insecticide–treated bed-nets or mass bed-net impregnation programs with slow-release insecticide tablets, could be possible vector-control components of integrated vector management if they are found effective in reducing VL incidence (3). We evaluated the effect of a community-based intervention with impregnation of existing bed-nets in reducing VL incidence in VL-endemic villages of subdistrict (upazila) Godagari, district Rajshahi, Bangladesh.