Laboratory wash-resistance and field evaluation of deltamethrin incorporated long-lasting polyethylene netting (Netprotect®) against malaria transmission in Assam, north-east India

North-east India is co-endemic for Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria, and disease transmission is perennial and persistent. This study reports the results of a field-based village scale trial of deltamethrin incorporated long-lasting polyethylene netting (Netprotect®) conducted in P. falciparum predominant pocket of Assam, north-east India to assess operational feasibility, acceptability and sustainability against disease vectors and malaria transmission. The study monitored the residual efficacy of the long-lasting net in relation to serial washings in the laboratory and malaria prevalence in experimental villages for the first year of investigations from September 2008 to June 2009. The mosquito vector populations of Anopheles minimus were observed to be highly susceptible to deltamethrin (0.05%), and follow up investigations revealed that the vector mosquito had virtually disappeared in Netprotect® intervention villages. Concurrently, there was consistent decline in malaria cases in Netprotect® villages and transmission reduction was statistically significant compared to untreated net (net without insecticide) and no-net control villages for the corresponding study period. The contact cone-bioassay investigations against malaria transmitting mosquito species revealed that the bioavailability of the insecticide on the net fiber was persistent up to 20th serial wash resulting in ≥80% mortality. Community compliance and acceptance were high, and users reported decreased nuisance due to biting mosquitoes. It was concluded that deltamethrin incorporated polyethylene long-lasting netting was safe, wash-resistant, and assessed to be an operationally feasible, community-based intervention for sustainable management of disease vectors to prevent malaria transmission.