Last week at MalariaWorld...job, Sri Lanka, bednets failing?, and new MWJ article

<P>The concern that insecticide-treated bednets may be failing as a control measure reinforces the old concept that malaria control should involve a multipronged attack rather than reliance on a single approach.&nbsp; I have just finished reading “The Moses of Malaria”, a biography of the influential Dutch malariologist, Nicolaas Swellengrebel, written by Jan Peter Verhave (Erasmus Publishing, Rotterdam, 2011).&nbsp; This is a must read for anyone interested in the epidemiology and control of malaria.&nbsp; Swellengrebel (1885-1970) was a transitional authority, both in time and in approach.&nbsp; Born in 1885, just five years after the discovery of the malaria parasite, he remained active until his death in 1970; his life and work spanned the pioneering epoch of Laveran, Ross and Grassi to what we may consider the beginning of the modern epoch of malariology.&nbsp; He worked and taught about the need to attack malaria at all levels, using the tools of field studies of vectors, development of mosquito control approaches, as well as the use of screening, residual spraying, antimalarial drugs and immunization.&nbsp; His work, presented in over 300 published papers, as well as in numerous reports of committees and commissions spanning much of the twentieth century, argued that there is no single panacea.</P> <P>The present concerns about bednets, as reported here, relate to poor maintenance leading to holes in the nets as well as the development of mosquito resistance to insecticides used to impregnate the nets.&nbsp; But there is another concern that troubles me even more. Bednets by their very name indicate that these are most effective when people are sleeping; thus, they should be expected to be effective primarily against nocturnal biting mosquitoes.&nbsp; One would predict, however, that there eventually would be selection in favor of mosquitoes that bite while people are active, especially during dusk, dawn and twilight (crepuscular biting).&nbsp; Bednets have saved many lives and still have an important role to play in malaria control.&nbsp; But it would be foolhardy to focus predominantly on this approach to the exclusion of ongoing research on other approaches, both traditional and innovative.</P> <P>&nbsp;</P> <P>Jerome Vanderberg</P> <P>New York University School of Medicine</P>