Cloth wraps treated with ‘dirt cheap’ insecticide cut malaria cases in babies

A study in Uganda found that treating traditional baby wraps with the insecticide permethrin significantly reduces malaria cases in infants. Researchers followed 400 mothers and their six-month-old babies in a rural area, providing half with treated wraps and half with untreated wraps. Over six months, babies carried in the treated wraps were two-thirds less likely to contract malaria. The study highlights a potentially cost-effective intervention, as permethrin is inexpensive, to combat malaria, which disproportionately affects young children in Africa. This method addresses the increasing trend of mosquitoes biting outside of traditional nighttime hours, when bed nets are most effective. The researchers were surprised by the magnitude of the results and are optimistic about the potential of this approach.

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