Are Mosquito Nets the Safest Alternative?
According to studies done by Clive Shiff, a prominent malaria expert at the John Hopkins School of Health, a mosquito netting canopy can play a major part in keeping travelers and campers safe from mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria. Shiff was a major player in an experiment that provided mosquito netting to 20,000 families with children in Tanzania. All the participating children received anti-malarial drugs. The control group slept without any netting canopy protection, and the treatment group slept with a net canopy. At the end of the 6-month study, the results indicated that the primary symptom of malaria, which is anemia, was 50% less common in the treatment group than in the control group. Other numerous field trials carried out in Kenya, Gambia, and Ghana showed that child deaths from malaria could be reduced considerably if a mosquito netting canopy was used during sleep and resting hours. Unicef has put a plan into effect that will help provide mosquito netting canopies
